The Branded Peacock

The third issue of the adidas Originals Series was built around a type: nonconformists. Lateral thinkers, extroverts, people who dress like they’ve made a deliberate decision and want you to notice. Cata Pirata was featured, as was the Dandy Diary crew, and several women’s style collectives who treat group dressing like a coordinated provocation. The photographer was Leni, whose eye for controlled chaos was exactly what the subject asked for.

The centerpiece was Rita Ora, which in 2014 made complete sense. She was loud in the right way—visually impossible to ignore, I Will Never Let You Down still saturating the airwaves—and she had her own adidas Originals line, which she talks about in the accompanying interview with enough specificity to suggest the thing was actually designed by her rather than approved by committee. Whether that’s true is a separate question. The performance of conviction is convincing enough.

I’m generally suspicious of sportswear collaborations with pop acts. The results tend to be too careful, everything sanded to its most commercially viable shape. But Ora’s line has edges. There’s something theatrical about it that maps onto the rest of her output, and the magazine—which exists, let’s be honest, primarily to sell shoes—at least earns its editorial pretension by featuring people who genuinely have something to say beyond product endorsement.

The theme of standing out from the crowd is delivered with brand-approved irony: you can buy your nonconformity at any adidas store that stocks the line. That’s the deal, and everyone involved seems comfortable with it, which is maybe the most honest version of this kind of collaboration you’re going to get.