words & images // Nick DePaula & Zac Dubasik
How does the adiZero Rose 2 fit into the adidas Basketball line? What was the inspiration behind the “L Train” colorway? What about the price, and the line plans for the future of Derrick Rose's signature series?
To find out even more about the adiZero Rose 2, Sole Collector sat down with Jack Gray, Global Category Manager for Footwear of adidas Basketball.
NDP: Can you talk about, from a high level view, how the Rose 2 fits into the line, and how it relates to where adiZero is going?
Jack Gray: First and foremost, we wanted to continue the story of Derrick being the fastest player in the NBA. Obviously it’s the perfect storm with him being the MVP. But, for us, adiZero is all about being light and fast. We established SPRINTWEB and SPRINTFRAME as technologies that we own, especially within adiZero. You see it in the 5-Star, you see it in F50, and you see it in Crazy Light. So, coming off of Crazy Light, utilizing the SPRINTWEB and SPRINTFRAME just made sense for him. And also, we wanted to add more personal details. With the 1, you had the ankle fit story. The 1.5 had the story about the pillars of the three brothers – a little bit more of an architectural story. But here, we really wanted to talk about his personality.
The fact is, he’s like a volcano. He’s really kind of quiet, but when the guy gets on court, he just erupts. He’s really fearless. He’s got that swagger, and the whole, “Why not me?” approach. It fits in with where we’re going. It literally is, “All Flights Cancelled.” It’s the fact that he’s making a statement that no one else can take off except for him. And we're keeping with that attitude.
With adiZero being something that we own now, it really is kind of drawing a line in the sand, and saying that we are all about light and fast. That really continues to be a progression, and each and every shoe is really a lot more personal. We went into each colorway and wanted to have a consistent rollout, so if you put them on the table, it was a progression from home and away, to getting to more of a Simeon-based version, to the Murray Park stories and luxury hardwood. They are all kind of different parts of his personality. That’s what we’re really trying to do, is have something that’s full circle.
With the 1.5 we started to do the Bears colorway, and the St. Patty’s Day, but this is where we start to get a little more Chicago-centric, and definitely more Derrick-centric. In a lot of the meetings we had with him, Robbie was literally asking about his personality. The fact that there’s Y-3 inspiration in it really speaks to the fact that he’s getting a lot more sophisticated. And then coupling that with adiZero kind of shows that you can have the ultimate in performance, but you can still have style. That really brings it together. When I look at the detailing that goes into this model, it’s really different than the 1 and the 1.5.
NDP: Could you talk about the L Train colorway that everyone has been so excited about?
Jack: He wore the red shoe on Christmas day last time. We kind of racked our brains about how we could come back with a compelling story for Christmas again. The story of "All Flights Cancelled" comes in again. How do you get to the airport? When you are in the Blue Line of Chicago, the L system is the only train line that gets to O’Hare. We have the literal Blue Line of the story, and the subway map print of the L, and then having the callout of the L on the heel. It really combines the story of "All Flights Cancelled" and getting to the airport. When he was a kid, he would take the train to the airport. These are compelling stories that make sense. We used a brushed metal finish on the upper, so it ties back to the actual subway train. You’re getting that nice iridescent shine, and when you put that on court on Christmas day, it almost looks like a gift.
He wore it for the China tour, and kids are calling it the MVP. It’s always up for interpretation. Kids will call the shoes whatever they want to call them. [everyone laughs] Some are calling it the Windy City, some are calling it the MVP, we are calling it the Blue Line. That’s almost a cool thing about product, period. Let kids interpret it. Let kids call the shoes what they want to call them. We have the story about the L, we have the story about the Blue Line. It’s in keeping with the idea of getting to the airport, and for everyone else, "All Flights Cancelled." We wanted to bring the true city story to the airport. It’s only going to get more Derrick, more detailed, and more performance-benefits-mixed-with-style as we go forward with his line of product.
NDP: Was there anything that he asked for performance-wise, that he wanted to evolve from the last one?
Jack: I think, for him, he really liked the SPRINTWEB and SPRINTFRAME. He liked those details that allowed for better support and reduction of weight. The feedback to us was that he wanted a similar platform. Obviously he wanted to have a traction story. We went away from PUREMOTION – not completely as a brand, but our decision this time was to really add a lot more personal details, but still tell a traction story. That’s where we brought in the volcano, but then also having different levels of a traction surface, which kind of ties back to the Crazy Light. It acts like a brush, and we accentuated the pivot point, because he is so fast. I think it’s a pretty cool detail when he’s running, and you see this pattern. It has the S-curve, which ties back to the Crazy Light. We took a lot of those influences and brought it to this.
Obviously, ankle support is a huge thing for him too. He wears ankle braces. He wanted to be able to get into the shoe easily, but he also wanted that extra lockdown around there. That’s where the Y-3 shoe inspiration made a lot of sense. If you look at that shoe, it’s really about that collar and that fit. Being able to get into the shoe easily, and then coupled with an extra fit system, it really works well with the ankle braces. And if you don’t wear ankle braces, it still tells a pretty compelling story of lockdown. It’s almost like you have a bootie. The tongue isn’t going anywhere. You just basically push it back, go in, and then lock down.
I think he was asking for us as a brand to really help tell his story. I think that’s where the inspiration came from behind a lot of the colorways. Combining him with adiZero, and then having all the signature details, is really something that he wanted to go forward with. And he loves the shoe. It’s really tough for us to think so far ahead, and do the guesswork on a lot of things. But taking his insights, and a really compelling story and details, it’s always cool when you show someone the shoe and they say the love it. There was an original photograph from the first time that he actually saw the shoe on his own, before we did our whole presentation. And he was giving the thumbs up. It was awesome, the fact that he took a picture of himself, and sent it to us. He probably would have put it on Twitter if he could have. It was just like, “Yes, we did it.”
You never like to see things leaked online early, but it’s been pretty cool to see the reaction that people are having to the product. I think what we always want to do is ellicit a reaction from our consumers. I think the reaction for the Blue Line has been phenomenal. It’s crazy that kids are calling it so many names. It’s cool that we have a shoe that people are talking about, especially when we are coming off of Crazy Light. I’ve seen some of the colors that people have done online, and I think it’s kind of turning the corner for us as a brand. People are really interacting with us, and I think we are talking to them as a brand overall, with all of our advertising, and working with Rose. I think kids are starting to gravitate towards our brand, and really want to have a personal relationship with it. Again, this shoe is allowing the consumer to have a glimpse into Derrick’s life. As many negative reactions as I see online, I always see positives ones. And I think the fact that people are even having conversations is huge. … I want people to have a reaction, but I want them to have a reason why they are reacting.
NDP: With the Crazy Light, we saw it priced at $130. That was the first time you guys were at that pricepoint since 2006. Now, the Rose 2 is $110. Are we going to see adidas Basketball moving to those higher price points?
Jack: It’s inevitable. We all know that costs are rising manufacturing wise. And I also think that we are proving that we can sell at $130, and $165 on miadidas. Derrick is the MVP. To say that his shoes can’t be $110, $130, $150 or whatever it is, is kind of ridiculous. At the end of the day, there’s a premium price that you pay for a signature shoe, and especially one that features a lot of technology from a brand. And we want to be a premium brand. That was our byline for when we were talking to everyone about Crazy Light. It’s a premium product, and we are a premium brand, and we have to charge appropriately. I think you get a lot of value for the product from what we are offering. At $100 before, and at $110, you’re getting a ton of shoe.
