adidas Gazelle x CLOT

Cross-cultural streetwear label CLOT had already collaborated on many of the major silhouettes in the sneaker industry by the time it announced that it would be taking on a series of classic adidas’ models in 2023. After creating striking editions of the Samba and the Superstar, brand co-founder Edison Chen moved on to the adidas Gazelle, giving the decades-old shoe a more mature look that he imagined would appeal to skilful female fashion designers like Phoebe Philo. His aim was to give sneaker fans something different to the norm, and his solution was to transform the traditionally leather-clad Gazelle into more of an espadrille with a knitted canvas upper and a rope-like finish around the sole. Inspired by summer holidays to the Amalfi Coast in Italy, the leisurely Gazelle design was revealed alongside other collaborative apparel at Shanghai Fashion Week in October 2023 as part of a collection entitled Change The Generation that celebrated 20 years of the CLOT brand. As its release approached in June 2024, adidas enlisted globally popular South Korean singer and actress Jennie to be the face of the CLOT x adidas Gazelle collaborative sneaker, bringing it attention around the world.

This dapper adidas Gazelle x CLOT sneaker presents the heritage silhouette in a completely new way, with a reimagined design based on the laid-back aesthetic of an espadrille. As such, it has a knitted textile upper in the gentle shade of Halo Ivory and its gum rubber sole unit is wrapped in a light brown rope-style covering that is connected to the upper by a woven seam. This produces the relaxed look of a casual summer shoe, while both the Cloud White beads that form the Three-Stripes logos on each flank and the golden Gazelle lettering are a chic touch. Elegant suede panelling elevates the look even further, as does the classy dual branding stamped into the heel tabs. The same pairing of an adidas Trefoil and CLOT’s distinctive logo shows up in white on the Blue Bird insole, while there is no branding at all on the tongue, for a minimalist feel. Two sets of rope-style laces are supplied with the shoe, one in the subtle tone of Halo Ivory, the other in the vibrant shade of Blue Bird, so that the wearer can choose to express either an understated or a more eye-catching style when wearing this unique take on the iconic adidas Gazelle.