Innovation is often the result of daring and imagination. It was in this spirit that Adidas first stepped into Web3 in 2021 with Into the Metaverse NFT drop – a collaboration between Bored Ape Yacht Club founders Gordon Goner and Gargamel, Pixel Vault founder GFunk and influential collector money — to welcome Adidas Originals to the virtual world. Since then, the brand has continued to grow and adapt, demonstrating that a traditional web2 company can indeed compete effectively against Web3 natives.
adidas /// Studio, also known as Three Stripes Studio, was founded in late 2022 and is a unique unit within the iconic sportswear brand focused on creating and executing Adidas’ global Web3 campaigns. Its mission is to develop brand strategies, develop partnerships, cultivate communities and design products. ALTS by Adidas, their most recent collection, represents the third and final phase of the Into the Metaverse initiative. It seeks to forge connections, inspire creativity and foster a sense of belonging.
As Adidas prepares for the unveiling, Stacey KingGlobal Head of Communications and Activation, and Vlad Lazarov, Global Head of Product for Adidas in Web3, now sat down for an exclusive interview with nft. The two leaders provided in-depth insights into Adidas’ journey in the Web3 space and what lies ahead, especially with the upcoming iteration of ALTS.
How it started
The start of Adidas’ metaverse ambitions began with the creation of an internal Metaverse Task Force in Q2 2021. Recognizing the power of collaboration, Adidas joined forces with some of the most influential creators in the Web3 realm, including the Bored Ape Yacht Club (Yuga Labs), Punks Comics and gmoney (9dcc).
On December 17, 2022, with the support of these creators, Adidas launched Into the Metaverse, a collection of 30,000 NFTs that quickly grew in popularity with the community. Afterwards, Adidas facilitated a free airdrop and the unveiling of its Virtual Gear genesis collection – a digital catalog of 16 wearable items. The air-dropped items were available to burn for the wearables.
“We want to take the community on a journey.”
Stacey King, Adidas
If the integration of the brand with the Web3 domain seems authentic to the community, because it is. This authenticity stems not only from the brand’s inherent values, but also from the fact that the team members themselves were ingrained in the culture they represented.
“We want to take the community on a journey,” said King. “We don’t want to be alone like, here’s an NFT.”
King and Lazarov are passionate collectors and members of NFT communities such as Doodles and Deadfellaz, which has given them a deep understanding of the field, its nuances and its requirements.
ALTs from Adidas
In April 2023, Adidas announced that holders of the NFTs from the Into the Metaverse collection (Phase 1 and Phase 2) could burn them in exchange for NFTs from the new ALTs by Adidas collection. In this expansion of the Into the Metaverse ecosystem, ALTs essentially represent ALT[er] egos for holders.
“We’ve been thinking a lot about how to make something more than just a visual and how to integrate it into a journey,” Lazarov said.
Each animated ALT has specific properties, including Strikes, Sprints, Hoops, Thrills, Amps, Soles, Decos, and Drips. Each property comes with a specific utility, with benefits tailored to the holder’s interests.
The universality of ALTS by Adidas provides numerous benefits to its holders, including stake and voice within the ecosystem, private and certain commercial IP rights to their ALT, access to 3D files and ALT artwork, the ability to customize their ALTS with virtual wearables, premium access to the Adidas collect website and other benefits. ALTS rarity features further provide unique privileges such as exclusive or early access to products and IRL events.
Season two of ALTs
In May 2023, Adidas surprised ALTS holders by handing out three NFTs, called Rift Valley Motel Coins, to each of them. Holders had no idea what they were for until now.
These tokens serve as rewards for the second season of Adidas. More than 10,550 unique ALTS owners who received these free tokens will be able to use them in the recently launched Rift Valley Motel Vending Machine. The mechanism will allow further customization of ALTS avatars and will go live on July 4.
“If you make a PFP project or an avatar, you get it and reveal it, and you can’t change it,” King now told nft. “But this is an interactive gamified way to customize your avatar to represent the ultimate you.”
Here are the detailed mechanics of how the coins will work:
The vending machine closes on July 25 and will feature more than 90 facial features. The brand’s official Twitter will reveal nine features each day until July 4, when the Vending Machine opens. These represent just a few of the hundreds of properties that will be revealed later in 2023.
A history of collaborations
It is clear that Adidas’ history in Web3 is rich in collaboration and creativity from various collections – from their first foray into Web3 to this latest project. The brand emphasized its community-first approach and made a notable presence at Web3 events, including NFT NYC, NFTParis and Art Basel Miami. Here are just a few of the brands and artists Adidas has partnered with.
Prada
In January 2022, Adidas partnered with Prada to launch an NFT collection of user-generated art. Collectors submitted photos using a filter developed by digital artist Zach Lieberman to provide the materials needed for the unique NFTs. One thousand of the available 3,000 spots for NFT participation were reserved for owners of NFTs from Adidas’ Into the Metaverse drop. The photographs were then assembled by Lieberman into a single piece of art with the title Adidas for Prada re source that sold for 30 ETH.
Bored Ape Yacht Club
Adidas’ original NFT drop was centered around BAYC IP, but a Bored Ape still plays a huge role in their current marketing efforts. The company owns Bored Ape #8774, a monkey they named Indigo Herz, who is a central character in the brand’s stories. In April 2023, adidas introduced /// Studio ALTS by Adidas, the Indigo Herz product suite, as part of Adidas Global Members Week.
Doodles
In May 2023, the brands released the “Pharrell Pack” in collaboration with Tokenproof, Doodles and Pharrell Williams (Chief Brand Officer at Doodles). This NFT pack includes digital Pharrell Williams clothing and gear from fashion brands he has created or worked with, including Human Made, Adidas, Billionaire Boys Club (BBC) and Ice Cream. Each pack contains digital wearables and a token that can be exchanged for an exclusive physical item of clothing.
Little-minded
In June 2023, Adidas announced a partnership with Fewocious, but has since paused the partnership in light of allegations of sexual assault against the Web3 artist by a former partner. Fewo released a statement denying the allegations, calling them “completely untrue, dangerous and hurtful”.
“Our collaboration with FEWOCiOUS has been put on hold for the time being,” says Adidas announced via Discord. “We want to thank our community for your trust and understanding.”
The future of Adidas in Web3
Through its various collaborations and Web3 endeavors, Adidas has proven that the brand is much more than IRL sportswear and apparel. But even in the metaverse, the team won’t forget its roots.
“We want to make sure we stay true to our brand’s values and that everything we do has Adidas DNA,” Lazarov said.
As Adidas continues to explore the possibilities of the digital space, it’s clear that the brand is poised to redefine what a sports community can look like in the Web3 era.