Source: adidas Originals Black Friday EQT Support Cushion / Support ADV / Support 93/17
adidas has enjoyed its rise to prominence over the last year. They accomplished the growth due to classic footwear and an infusion of new styles that other sites and media outlets labeled as innovative product with great design. I really like adidas. I’ve rocked with the brand for a very long time. Even when Nike was dominating basketball, my teams wore the adidas SL and the adidas Bromium. When I analyze adidas I don’t do it as a “hater” hating on their success. I do it because I see wrinkles that if they aren’t ironed out will lead to adidas losing the ground they’ve taken away from Nike and Under Armour. I’ve written a few posts predicting a trend that would hurt adidas. It seems the moment is on its way and it can be seen in this latest drop from adidas for their Black Friday launch.
Here are a couple of those old articles:
Will The adidas NMD Lose Resale Like The Nike Roshe Run? | Housakicks Livestream
adidas Running Price Increases Will Slow Its Momentum | Compare & Contrast with Nike Running
What I’m about to say in regard to the triple release of Black Friday footwear from adidas is in addition to a number of articles I wrote which if I were an adidas exec, the information would keep me up at night.
The Black Friday release of the triple black shoes from adidas are too similar. adidas officially has a silhouette problem. Everything looks the same especially when they are blacked out. The only thing different is the pricing structure with the 93/17 carrying a 180 dollar price tag. The Support ADV EQT comes in at the low end of 110 and the Support Cushion (which I think is the dopest of the three because of the additional angles) is in the mid tier price range of 130.
All three silhouettes look the same in their shape. There is a danger in this. When you begin to look at the design of footwear with the Three Stripes they’ve made too many shoes that retain elements of previous releases. The NMD R1 looks the same as the R2, but without the midsole blocks the R2 has not performed very well causing adidas to revert to the R1 which has created a glut of colorways and the once popular NMD which was hitting resale is now sitting in every iteration from R1 to XR1. What’s even worse is BOOST is no longer a strong enough pull to capture buyers. The 180 dollar 93/17 is currently on sale at Foot Locker for 79.99!
I think the Black Friday Triple Black collection is dope, but I have a feeling that if these aren’t limited none of these models will be the go to when people can’t pick up the Yeezy 350 and this is not a good thing for adidas especially when the head of Foot Locker just placed his confidence in a resurging Nike which he credited with helping Foot Locker beat expectations in Q3.