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by Brendan Dunne
In adidas' Q1 conference call today, the brand gave credit to Kanye West and Pharrell for a sizable bump in sales for adidas Originals.
Speaking during the call, adidas CEO Herbert Hainer noted that the adidas Originals category is up 29 percent in the first quarter, compared to a growth of just three percent for the same period last year. Hainer said that this growth was helpd by Pharrell's adidas Superstar range and pairs of the adidas Yeezy Boost. Hainer also mentioned styles such as the Tubular, ZX Flux, and Stan Smith as important ones for the growth.
The idea that limited styles like those from Kanye and Pharrell could contribute to such large growth is somewhat counterintuitive, given the relatively small number of pairs sold.
Speaking on the growth in adidas Originals, Hainer said:
"In the lifestyle sector, we also got off to a great start into the year. The adidas Superstar quickly became the shoe of the season. And the global launch of the Supercolor pack, the introduction of the Superstar Silver in 50 different colorways, in cooperation with Pharrell Williams, has brought the franchise to new levels. Sales and sell through spiked the growth of all channels around the globe, creating halo effects far beyond the product itself.
Moreover, at the launch of the Yeezy Boost, our first shoe developed in collaboration with Kanye West, long queues formed in front of stores. And let's not forget the success of the newly launched Tubular and the latest version of the ZX Flux. All of this drove an aggressive 29% sales increase at adidas Originals, with strong double-digit increases in all markets, except Russia."
via Seeking Alpha
