Edison Chen Speaks on the Art of Remixing adidas Originals' Icons

As founder of the Hong-Kong-based label and a key collaborator, has made a habit of rewriting what a sneaker colab can be. Back in 2023 he announced a full partnership with , ushering in a more refined aesthetic while still honouring his East-meets-West roots. 'For the CLOT x adidas Originals story, I’ve been trying to push the creative limits and push the boundaries of what sneaker culture can contain,' he says.

Now, with his new collection – which on November 10 – Chen takes that legacy one step further. Rooted in Ivy League sport codes but filtered through outdoor functionality, this capsule elevates the iconic silhouette onto a plane he describes as both 'mature' and 'utilitarian'.

We spoke with Chen about redefining heritage, shaping what’s next, and who he’s really creating for.

Let’s get straight into this new collection. How did you set the tone for the next chapter in the CLOT x adidas story?​
For the CLOT x adidas Originals story, [we] decided to put a little bit more of a mature, grown aesthetic onto our creations, which naturally led to the Pro Model. [It's] a boot that is traditionally considered outerwear, outdoor wear, but at the same time it can be worn in a very fashionable, kind of 'put together' way. With the outdoor trend going crazy right now, I thought it would be interesting to do the Pro Model, and to extend the lens of what we did with the Superstar onto the Pro model.

The ‘Pro Model’ collection is described as Ivy League sport aesthetics reworked through a global, East-meets-West lens. How do you translate traditional collegiate codes into something that feels contemporary?
For collegiate codes, I think that everyone is already wearing a Harvard, or NYU, or UCLA sweatshirt. It's already kind of ingrained into... an identity that extends out of academia, or 'I'm going to that school', in the sense that these establishments have built – over years – an 'MO' so to speak, using the same ideology that we do in trying to create what we were calling, at first, 'The University of adidas x CLOT'. These were the origins and our thinking of how we were going about designing the apparel. We then extended that thinking into the footwear, and then a full collection with apparel.

This iteration turns the Superstar-inspired silhouette into a winter-ready boot with rope laces, duck-boot aesthetic elements, sawtooth soles, and rich leathers. Take us through the creative process. What were your must-haves, and where were boundaries pushed?
Honestly, I think of it as a utilitarian fashion aesthetic. The boot is something that I've always wanted to put my lens on. I reframed my thinking in that we are creating shoes, and not sneakers necessarily. We also needed to add that adidas energy of the Superstar, but in a different way – not just the low-top in the Pro Model, which people expect of the Superstar. We decorated the shoe with the Brogue to keep the mature, sexy feel, and we added very obvious elements of outdoor culture and outdoor fashion into the shoe to elevate it to where we were with the design.

From the jackets to mixed-material use, the capsule goes beyond footwear. How do you see apparel complementing the narrative?
It’s interesting – at the beginning, I didn't initially work on apparel with adidas. But in explaining my creative process to that team, and being able to translate the idea of the shoes into other avenues – or making people understand what the capsule is about, or what the footwear is about – I felt it needed apparel. They agreed and trusted my vision.

Apparel actually has become a very important part of our collaboration, from a zero-to-hero kind of thing. We all didn't know what to expect from our apparel, but I think a lot of people have been gravitating towards the pieces. I always say that the head-to-toe, shoe, jacket, pant, exact tone, exact-print matches are something that's a very calculated formula, that used to work maybe 10 years ago – but for me, I'm trying to create an aesthetic. I'm trying to create an outlook – an outfit, so to speak. And outfits don't always have to be monotone, or all snake print, for example. I felt like putting together the outfit would also explain the shoe design, and that is really the narrative of everything that we've done from the get.

From the fashion show runway that we did in Shanghai – where everything was just supposed to be a sample – to being able to create full capsules that complement the shoes, was very important. I think it's very important to our success, and very important to deliver a clear message in such a noisy world.

I think in this collection, the apparel complements the shoes, and the shoes complement the apparel. It was designed with the same spirit, but not necessarily with the same colour palette or colour tones or material aesthetics.

There are a number of finer details specific to this collection. How do you ensure those small gestures maintain cohesion, and what’s your process for balancing subtlety with statement?
There's always the conundrum of doing too much, and then doing too little. So when we actually go through the footwear creation, we go crazy on our first couple samples and in our first idea ideations. Then we go through 3D models, and then we go through physical samples. So what you're seeing at the end is either an overstatement or an understatement of our original creation.

We create very early with the adidas Originals x CLOT team, and that gives us more wiggle room to add elements that make sense or don't make sense, and some of them are hidden – for example, on the back heel tab, there's houndstooth. Our lacing is really an aesthetic thing, to try to bring out more of that outdoor mountain feel. The Brogue element we added for a mature, grown aesthetic. And you know, it is a hard thing to balance all these things – but I feel like we've done every such detail in a very subtle manner, so that somehow they can coexist and really shine with each other.

You’ve already reinterpreted adidas icons like the Superstar, , , and now the Pro Model. How do you honour silhouette heritage while pushing new forms or functions?
Reinterpreting adidas icons has been fun. It's almost like the 1990s remix of a song. That's how I kind of look at it: how do we maintain the visual, immediate, recognisable aesthetic of something that's so classic, but refreshed in a way that someone will be like, 'Oh, hey, what's this?!' Being able to explore has really been the best part of that.

I think adidas Originals was at a moment where they were trying to see where these original silhouettes could go, in a moment when reissues and retros were starting to get shunned on. Also, not just doing colourway plays and [instead] being able to test the form, or the functionality, or actually the design of the shoe – not just from a fabric selection point of view – was something fun and very interesting and very exciting.

It's been a good journey. The Superstars, we . We also made it into an outdoor, half-khaki-suit look. We with the espadrille, European, Amalfi Coast vibe. And now that we got the Pro Model for this collection – it’s fun!

CLOT’s design language has long bridged traditions, motifs, and symbols. In this Pro Model line, which references appeal to you the most?
It’s interesting that a lot of people say 'East meets West' as the first thing they talk about for CLOT. Our mission statement was to bridge the East and West through creative culture, and I think we've done that. While we still may kind of go back and highlight those points of ours, we don't necessarily go to every single project now and try to overly exert that mission statement.

Who are you creating for, and how do you hope consumers will interpret this new collection?​
I think I'm creating for the kind of people who have been in fashion, and who have had their own sense for a little while already – and who are now ready to grow and move on to the next phase.

I think I've hit that point in my life where I'm trying to be a little bit more put together and, you know, not wear graphic tees every day. Not that I don't – I mean, I was wearing a Star Wars Jar Jar Binks tee the other day. But at the same time, just honouring my craft and understanding that there's levels to creation too. It’s not just the maturation of who I am – from a single man into a father – but I try to display that growth through the aesthetic of the collections.

Our creations are different, but still very recognisable and still very classic – I hope so. A lot of the footwear that I make with adidas, I hope to be presented in the vault. I mean, that's graduation right there! Hopefully, some of the iterations of the shoes that I've made, one day – 20 years down the road – when the young creative goes into the vault, they'll see the shoe, and they'll be like, 'Oh, man, wow. This is this man. This guy did something.'

I just hope that the people enjoy the collection for what it is.

Chen’s focus is already locked on what’s coming next. 'Through my journey with adidas alone, we’ve done many things to activate the young generation,' he says. 'Somehow, some way, other than trying to create dope shit, we're also trying to inspire the youth to continually push themselves – like I'm pushing myself.'

Whether it’s mentoring young designers or launching competitions like Earn Your Stripes to uncover new creative voices, Chen’s aim is clear – to build the next wave – in a legacy that's all about opening doors and shifting perspectives.