adidas and Sean Wotherspoon have finally unveiled their long-anticipated and extremely sustainable SUPEREARTH Superstar.
The California-based designer is widely known for being a founder of Round Two, a nationwide chain of highly curated vintage and consignment shops. Wotherspoon first made a splash on the sneaker scene with his award-winning corduroy Nike Air Max 1/97 hybrid in 2018, having since worked with ASICS and atmos on a GEL-Lyte III. While he has teased multiple projects with adidas in the past few months, we now have an official look at the first of their partnership.
The shoe, a reinterpretation of the immensely popular adidas Superstar, is the first in the all-new SUPEREARTH initiative from adidas dedicated to eliminating production waste and exploring alternative, eco-friendly manufacturing techniques. It’s likely that the ZX model teased by Wotherspoon earlier this year will follow the Superstar in the series, but little is known about the second model so far.
The SUPEREARTH Superstar uses 100% vegan materials, inspired by Wotherspoon’s vegan lifestyle. While the Superstar’s leather upper is an obvious target for a vegan redress—this Superstar’s is made from 100% recycled polyester—its rubber sole uses 90% sustainably sourced natural tree rubber with colorful flecks of waste rubber. Additionally, its vividly branded insole is made from leftover Ortholite material and cork (considered highly renewable and environmentally friendly).
Visually, the shoe appears primarily in off-white with soft pastel blue and pink eyestays. The SUPEREARTH’s most eye-catching feature, however, is its colorful embroidered floral designs modeled after Wotherspoon’s hand-drawn sketches. As a homage to the Y-3 x adidas Super Position, the bright threads hang loose off the shoe and drag on the ground below the wearer’s feet.
The shoe is rounded off by embroidered globes and SUPEREARTH branding on the tongue, and the whole package comes in a special edition box featuring more of Wotherspoon’s floral sketches. The Sean Wotherspoon x adidas SUPEREARTH Superstar releases globally on August 29th at adidas.com/superearth and exclusively through the newly relaunched adidas Confirmed app in North America. You can take a look at campaign photos and product shots for the shoe down below, and be sure to stay tuned for further updates on adidas’ SUPEREARTH initiative as more models follow.
Sean Wotherspoon x adidas Superstar SUPEREARTH
Release Date: August 29, 2020
