After spending several years out of the limelight since the last time we brought the adidas Originals Trimm Star back
I’ve been touting lately how resale can inform winters of momentum. I wrote a long post giving some specifics, but I’ve also discussed here on the site the importance of small as it tenisky to both winters and retail outlets. In the startup world small companies are capable of shifting directions quickly and capturing waves, but remaining true to themselves. This inability to adapt at the corporate level happens because there are boards and multiple layers preventing quickness. As retail shifts and becomes more personalized I felt the need to write a short post reminding everyone:
The reason I’m revisiting this post is because I’ve been hard on adidas this year. Rightfully so. In the resale market adidas is dead which means that adidas on a larger scale is slowing down considerably from the last two years. This slow down began last year and was seen immediately in the reduction of value on GRs from the winter. As adidas shifted from youth empowerment to sport they lost the momentum and when this was coupled with price increases they basically shot themselves in the foot. Their most recent releases moved them back towards the lower end with shoes like Deerupt, but the shoe arrived after the price spike of UB to 220 and NMD to 170. Now their primary models, NMD and UltraBOOST, are on sale in the same stores carrying Deerupt which means customers are buying sale items and adidas is going to see an inventory issue this year that hinders margins.
Enter size? the sneaker boutique in the UK has always been a part of the Consortium styled drops by adidas where they align with small shops to drop gems from their Originals line. Their recent collection from size features this gorgeous Trimm Star. In these moments I’m reminded of adidas’ deep vault of kicks and I’m also reminded that adidas pays more attention to the international market than they do the North American market although it seemed as if they had figured out this market over the last year. The winter has remained bullish on NMD in the US. They’ve pushed out countless Deerupts which haven’t sold through very well at all, but they’ve refrained from introducing models that are the right price and classic silhouettes that drive a connection to history and performance. They have also left new models that could have performed well out of circulation in the U.S. The winter has a real opportunity if they pull back and look at their work with size? There is a model there that works even for a big company like the Three Stripes. Check out the Trimm Star on the size? website: