Wales Bonner adidas collection returns to its archive

Grace Wales Bonner and adidas Originals are going back to their own archive for the next chapter of a partnership that has lasted for several seasons. The Wales Bonner adidas collection takes familiar silhouettes and familiar sportswear shapes and reworks them with richer materials and sharper tailoring, according to Hypebeast. The result reads less like a nostalgia exercise and more like a wardrobe built from pieces the two labels already know well, finished to a higher standard than the originals.

The campaign sets the tone before any single garment gets a close look. Photographer Harley Weir shot the images with 1980s London in mind, a period when subcultures and street styles were colliding in the city and reshaping what young people wore. That reference shows up in the styling rather than as costume: relaxed fits, layered sportswear and polished outerwear worn together, as if the clothes came from a wardrobe rather than a single lookbook page.

The shoes lead with texture

Footwear carries the most obvious changes in the Wales Bonner adidas collection. The signature WB Karintha returns in dark brown croc-stamped leather with brushed gold hardware, a dressier take on a shoe that started life as an archive runner. The WB Gazelle Snake takes the opposite route, using a vivid green crocodile treatment that makes the familiar low profile hard to miss. Both pairs keep their original shapes intact, so the new materials do the talking instead of a redesigned sole or a changed last.

The running side of the range gets a quieter treatment. The WB ADIZERO Adios arrives in all suede with custom Three Stripes detailing, a restrained finish that suits the shoe's slim profile. The newly introduced WB BW Pony rounds out the footwear with pony hair uppers and lizard print overlays, a mix of textures that fits the collection's interest in animal finishes without turning the shoe into a novelty. Reported by Hypebae, the four shoes sit together as a set: two loud finishes, one muted suede option and one new silhouette to watch.

Tailoring runs through the clothes

Apparel in the Wales Bonner adidas collection follows the same logic as the shoes, starting from sportswear and pushing it toward tailoring. The centerpiece is a leather blouson in the label's signature bark hue, finished with handcrafted crochet stripes and tonal embossed branding. It is the kind of outerwear that works over a tracksuit or with smarter trousers, and that flexibility is the point. A double-knit jersey tracksuit offers the more traditional side of the range, while a pinstripe track top with matching shorts adds a sartorial twist to a coordinated set that would otherwise read as pure gym wear.

Football references run through the rest of the clothing. A collared football top with matching trousers borrows vintage sporting codes and translates them into an everyday silhouette, and stirrup-detailed track pants keep the athletic thread going without looking like training kit. A long-sleeve knit and double-logo T-shirts fill out the basics, while accessories include a neoprene bag with crocodile panels, a branded lanyard and socks. None of these pieces shouts on its own. Together they build a wardrobe where sportswear and tailoring share the same closet.

What holds the range together is Wales Bonner's longstanding interest in cultural identity through clothing. European tailoring traditions sit alongside Afro-Atlantic influences in the collection, and sport gives both sides a shared language. That mix explains why a pinstripe set and a football top can sit in the same drop without clashing: each piece borrows from a different tradition, but the palette and the materials keep them in conversation. It also explains the restraint. The loudest finishes are saved for the shoes, while the clothing stays wearable and muted, leaving room for the wearer to decide how much of the archive to show at once.

The Wales Bonner adidas collection lands globally on Thursday through the adidas website, the CONFIRMED app and select retailers. For shoppers who have followed the partnership, the appeal is continuity: the same designer, the same archive and the same attention to material, applied to pieces that can be worn beyond a single season. For newcomers, the entry points are clear, with the Karintha and the Gazelle offering the most recognizable shapes and the blouson giving the range its tailored anchor. Full details and imagery are available in the original coverage from Hypebeast and Hypebae.