Source: adidas Originals KAMANDA SS18
I said a year ago that adidas would see a slowdown because far too many of the shoes releasing shared the same running silhouette. While everyone is still touting the growth of the brand, I use a resell analysis to see where a brand is moving and in resell adidas is dead… outside of super limited drops, but that’s not what this is about.
I’m writing this post because I’m finally happy about a new adidas release. I panned the Prophere and Deerupt. While I don’t believe the Kamanda will actually catch on in the US beyond fashion circles, I do see it as the adjustment adidas understands it needs to make to continue capitalizing on an amazing two year run.
The Kamanda is described as a modern retro representing the UK cultures Terrace Movement. If you don’t know what that is, and considering every other sneaker site simply copied the ‘copy’ from adidas, here is the definition of what the Terrace Movement was in the 80s, “Terrace culture gets its name from the natural habitat of Casuals: the football terrace. A quintessential feature of Britain’s cultural heritage, UK football lifestyle and clothing also managed to cross borders and found its way across the pond. Riding the wave of success, UK Grime has more recently adopted the look and has found it’s way to the US, reinforcing terrace casual’s legions of followers.” The Idle Man
What adidas labels as Terrace culture in the 80s, I label as Hip-Hop in the 80s. The track suits, Stan Smiths, shelltoes are all staples of Hip-Hop style. While Terrace and Kamanda are obviously a bit more high end, the Kamanda has a 150 dollar pricepoint, which I think is a mistake and it should have been at 120, what I like most is the break from the running silhouette which I think has bogged adidas down in NMDs and UltraBOOSTS which are all being discounted heavily.
This move with the Kamanda also moves adidas back towards the counter culture appeal that pushed it forward two seasons ago. It also allows the Glitch Movement in the UK to be connected to an older soccer movement fusing both retro and modern. Why adidas didn’t use some of the kids from their Glitch campaign last year is beyond me…
The Kamanda is a dope ass shoe. The outsole worries me as it reminds me of a chunkier Prophere and that shoe was ridiculously heavy. What I hope is that this is a more lightweight version of that wavy outsole. I like that the Three Stripes is back to creating modern retro that doesn’t have to utilize BOOST and the same shape. You can read more and see more pics on the adidas site.