Prada x adidas - Limited Edition
- Steffi
- Dec 6, 2019
- 4 min read
Updated: Dec 17, 2019
Marketers must open their eyes to consumer and economic trends. Rising wellness aspirations and a need for sentimental value, has resulted in a blurring of barriers between activewear and daywear, opening up an opportunity for cross-sector convergence. The luxury wellness economy is becoming increasingly lucrative, as it becomes a status symbol for customers (Amed and Berg, 2017). Consequently, luxury brand Prada have collaborated with sportswear brand adidas Originals.
The 700-piece, unequally serial numbered, limited-edition collection, is “an homage to timeless classics that transcend generations”. The collaboration features the adidas Original Superstar sneaker, crediting the 50 years the shoe has “crossed boundaries and challenged definitions” (Prada, 2019). Secondly, it introduces the Prada Bowling bag for adidas, which combines the shared world of sports, that has been core to both brand’s narratives and heritages. The vision is to “challenge conventional wisdom through unexpected strategies” (De Klerk, 2019), which can be interpreted as altering iconic pieces through the combination of luxury and subcultural fashion. According to Posner (p.191, 2012), the purpose of a collaboration is to ensure both parties mutually benefit. For Prada, it allows them to tap into the millennial market of adidas Originals and refresh their high-end brand image. For adidas, it is an additional powerful endorsement contract. The German brand can adopt the Italian leather good’s house expertise and offer a luxury diffusion line for affluent customers, seeking self-actualisation (McLeod, 2007).
A digital advertisement campaign has been launched across Prada and adidas Originals’ Instagram accounts to build awareness, which has sparked the PR attention. Advertising and PR are important channels of communication during the introductory stages of the life cycle, where the main objective is audience awareness (Palmer, 2000, p.428).
The advertisement is analysed through Saussure's semiotic analysis (Aillo, 2006). The overly white image is reflecting the “clean, simplicity and timeless lines” of the collection. The proxemics of the objects are carefully placed to denote the perfectionism of the product range. Captured at a bird’s eye view, the angle draws attention to the two products and gives the impression that it is shot in a workshop, implementing the idea that the products are personalised. This is further reinforced by the signs of the craft objects, mise-en-scene of the white cloth and stark white lighting, all of which act as signifers of the Italian craftsmanship and German engineering that have gone into the products. The white gloves holding the trainers, gives the impression of luxury, mirroring the image of the collection. The simple placement of the logos allows the brands to be easily recognisable. The clinical look to the collection advertisement appeals to Innovators; those who try new ideas at a risk (Palmer, 2000, p.416).
Figures 3-6: Prada x adidas, Prada, 2019
Collaboration have formed much of Adidas’ previous promotional activities and provided them with a competitive advantage. For example, they have collaborated with Stella McCartney and Kanye West’s Yeezy collection, prompting rival Puma to follow suit. Equally, it is not the first time Prada have dabbled in sportswear, reissuing their Linea Rossa sportswear collection that debuted in 1997 (Newbold, 2019).
In the race to capitalise on the fitness fashion market, we are seeing increasing numbers of luxury brands collaborating with sportswear. Across Instagram, this has increased by 25% in the past year compared to 2016 and it is predicted the trend will grow steadily through 2020. This is evident in Adidas’ competitor Nike, who have used Anna Wintour to cocreate two pairs of Nike Air Jordan’s in Vogue’s colours (Heuritech, 2019). The movement has also been captured by Louis Vuitton, who collaborated with Supreme in 2017 to produce their capsule collection of streetwear emblem; this produced 23 billion dollars in revenue (Jones, 2017). As such, luxury x sportswearhas become the new normal, if luxury brands want to stand out, they must consider new and innovative ways to communicate their products.
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References
Online
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Amed, I. and Berg, A. 2017. The Business of Fashion and McKinsey, The State of Fashion 2018 [online] Available from: https://cdn.luxe.digital/media/reports/the-state-of-fashion-2018-business-of-fashion-mckinsey.pdf [accessed 06/12/2019]
Barr, S. 2019. The Independent. Prada and Adidas Unveil Trainer and Bowling Bag From Fashion Collaboration. [Online]. Available from: https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/fashion/prada-adidas-collaboration-trainer-bag-sports-launch-date-a9216811.html [date accessed 02/12/2019]
Heuritech, When Luxury Teams up with Sportswear, 2019. [online]. Available from: https://www.heuritech.com/blog/articles/luxury/luxury-teams-up-with-sports/ [date accessed 02/12/2019]
McLeod, S. 2007. Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. Available from: https://www.simplypsychology.org/maslow.html [accessed 06/12/2019] Maoui, Z. 2019. GQ, This Is What Prada X Adidas Will Look Like. [Online] Available from: https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/fashion/article/prada-adidas-collaboration [date accessed 02/12/2019]
Newbold, A., Pike, Naomi. Vogue. 2019. Introducing Pradidas: The First Box-Fresh Products From The Hotly-Anticipated Collaboration. [Online]. Available from: https://www.vogue.co.uk/news/article/prada-adidas-collaboration [date accessed 02/12/2019]
Prada, 2019. Prada for adidas - Limited edition [online]. Available from: http://www.prada.com/en/a-future-archive/projects/prada-for-adidas-limited-edition.html [date accessed 06/12/2019]
PRADA FOR ADIDAS LIMITED EDITION press release, 2019 [online]. Available from: https://www.pradagroup.com/en/news-media/press-releases-and-documents.html [date accessed 02/12/2019]
Books:
Posner, H. 2012. Fashion Marketing
Palmer, A. (2004) Introduction to marketing: theory and practice. Oxford
List of Figures
Figure 1, 3, 4, 5, 6 : Prada x Adidas, Prada, 2019. Available from: http://www.prada.com/en/a-future-archive/projects/prada-for-adidas-limited-edition.html [date accessed 06/12/2019]
Figure 2: Prada x Adidas digital advertising, Stock, 2019. Available from: https://stockx.com/news/adidas-x-prada-bowling-bag-is-officially-here/ [date accessed 06/12/2019]
Figure 7: Prada Linea Rossa Collection, Numero, 2018. Available from: https://www.numero.com/en/fashion/prada-linea-rossa-sport-nylon-patrizio-bertelli#_ [date accessed 06/12/2019]
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