Brain Dead has joined forces with adidas for what looks like the two's first sneaker collaboration. With first looks going around the internet, Brain Dead's adidas shoe just further proves that the label is in its own lane — well, a bowling lane with adidas, that is.
In early imagery revealed on January 13, Brain Dead and adidas mark their spot on the heel of an adidas bowling shoe. The emoji bowling pins gave it away, too.
A better look at Brain Dead's collaborative adidas bowling sneaker later surfaced, revealing the shoe in black/white and white/black colorways.
In all of its 75 years, adidas has conquered many sports, bowling included. There have been similar looking bowling shoes in the past, mostly ultra rare pairs from the 70s and 80s listed.
adidas' bowling shoes were even called "Bowling," as printed in gold near the Three Stripes, the same spot where you'll typically spot adidas' model names.
Jeremy Scott gave us a colorful alley-worthy shoe during his earlier run with adidas. And these days, an adidas bowling shoe is a piece you'd expect to catch in Gucci's adidas collection alongside those collaborative clogs, heels, and loafers.
Bowling shoes appear to be non-existent amongst adidas' current footwear lineup — which includes wildly popular shoes like the Gazelle and Samba — but hey, there's always room for a revival. Enter Brain Dead.
Like the vintage adidas bowling shoes, Brain Dead's pairs also feature a wood midsole and heel along with classic leather uppers.
As far as its shape, Brain Dead's adidas sneaker goes slim and narrow, like the regular shoes you'd lace up in before channelling your inner Pete Weber.
As promised, Brain Dead officially revealed their adidas bowling sneaker in Paris during the city's men's fashion week. Right now, the collaboration pictured above is for "Friends & Family", which means they won't see a public release.
However, Brain Dead co-founder Kyle Ng confirmed there will be "more to come" from the Brain Dead x adidas partnership.
Regarding footwear collabs, Brain Dead's list is pretty long and quite impressive. So far, Brain Dead has worked with Reebok, Vans, ASICS, Converse, Oakley Factory Team, and HOKA.
Brain Dead is known for bringing its disruptive design language to its team-ups. The results are usually cool pieces like metallic HOKA Hoparas and slip-on Oakley shoes, making Brain Dead a collaborator and overall brand worth watching.
Brain Dead's adidas sneaker are another one for the books — even if these are just F&Fs (still, they're a sight to behold).
