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Missoni, the Italian brand synonymous with kaleidoscopic knitwear, is getting into the business of workout gear. As of today, the family-run house is partnering with Adidas Running on a capsule of performance clothing and sneakers—and the results are as wild as you’d hope, and unlike anything else out there right now. And because it's 2019, the whole has lot already dropped.
Since 1953, when onetime Olympic hurdler Ottavio Missoni and his wife Rosita founded the label, Missoni’s M.O. has been whipping up colorful, zig-zag patterned fashion that leans sportier than say, the stuff you’d find on Savile Row, but isn't exactly suitable for spin class. This new Adidas collab changes all that, offering up a short, tee, and zip sweatshirt in a far-out optic pattern best described as “Missoni” and rendered in a poly-and-naturally-wicking wool blend best described as "Adidas." It’s stellar stuff that would get any guy with a closet-mountain of basic black nylon shorts excited—but the lineup’s running sneakers take the whole launch to another level.
Five years ago the game-changing-est innovation in the world of technical running sneakers was knitwear. Instead of traditional cut nylon or leather uppers, brands began using open-weave fabrics that yielded lighter and more breathable footwear than ever before. The then-novel materials—Nike's Flyknit, Adidas's Primknit, even Allbirds' sheep's wool—also made sneakers a hell of a lot cozier than their traditional counterparts, which is crucial if you’re running a half marathon and much appreciated when you're walking to your mailbox.
So when masters of all things knitwear and space dying (a technique where multiple colors are applied to a single yarn) apply their know-how to Adidas’s Ultraboost silhouette, the results are what you might expect: Missoni wound up creating a running shoe that sits smack dab in the center of performance wear and fashion right now (tech-y, trippy, branded, unisex). The riot of red, turquoise, marigold, dusty pink, and black yarns spun together to create the upper’s pattern is a refreshing update to the antiseptic all-one-color sneakers that dominate athletic footwear (and the smart addition of clear lace loops keeps the design uninterrupted). The shoe—and the whole collection—is a celebration of craftsmanship and the art of fashion, tweaked just enough to cater to the wear-everywhere wants of most guys today— and the Instagram-friendly needs of the menswear obsessed.
