Back in May, adidas gained a new, stylish collaborator, Tulie Yaito. Upon announcing her partnership with the sportswear label, Tulie also confirmed a shoe team-up in the same breath.
Recently, Tulie provided us with the best look yet at her collaborative shoe, which happens to be a Forum Hi with an impressive material story.
On the Tulie Yaito x adidas Forum Hi – which drops on July 8 on adidas' website — you'll notice moments of hairy cowhide, green suede, black leather embossed with paisley prints, and even classic white leather mingling on the upper.
A few patterns, like the cowprint and paisley, may look familiar to fans of Yaito, the accessories brand co-founded by Tulie. It's the same materials and prints used for the label's viral knot and Keijo bags.
The shoes also explores a vibrant color palette, which nod to Tulie's upbringings in Jamaica as well as her bold fashion tastes (more on that later).
"I would describe my shoe as opulent. It merges street wear, luxury and paying homage to my roots in Jamaica," Tulie shares with us.
"The black leather paisley depicts the strength & creativity of our people. The yellow over size thread depicts the wealth and beauty and the green suede depicts hope & the land’s resources. I also drew inspiration from our popular knot bag and the Keijō bag using exotic skins, shapes, materials and vibrant colors that represents me."
In short, think of the Tulie Forum Hi as, well, Tulie if she were a Forum Hi sneaker — the shoe is but a reflection of the fashionable designer.
You may have seen Tulie on your feed a few times before — she's easily one of the most stylish presences on the social media right now.
Tulie is backed by a devoted audience who patiently awaits her IG 'fit pics, which could range from this season's Rick Owens to rare archival Issey Miyake to an emerging name like NYRVA — or a combination of all the above with Yaito typically included.
"Eclectic, avant-garde, whimsical, street, luxe" are the words she used to describe her taste. Tulie spells her style out further by saying, "My personal style isn’t confined. It is very much thought provoking and disrupting one’s comfort."
"I like to be different, and that drives me to think outside of the box which allows me to be outside the box. But to sum it up, my personal style is freedom. Freedom to be whatever inspires me in that moment.
"Luxury is a mindset; it is not measured by the price tag. My relationship with fashion and luxury is that I marry the two. Fashion and luxury is freedom. Freedom is the quality of life."
As stated, Tulie is also one of the two minds behind Yaito, sharing the fashion venture with her partner Carlton Yaito.
ICYMI: We caught up with Carlton in August last year, discussing the label's coveted paisley knot bags — and footwear collabs.
Looking back, it looks like Carlton subtly hinted at Tulie's adidas collab, stating during the interview: "Funny enough, there is another shoe that we'll be releasing at some point this year with another company."
Before adidas, the Yaito founders worked with PUMA on a patchwork paisley Suede sneaker that never came to be. According to Carlton, only a few pairs were made — Jay-Z apparently owns one of them — while the rest were "scrapped."
Now, Yaito is team adidas, with Tulie leading the way with a bold, inaugural team-up — which, for her, is more than just a sneaker collaboration. Tulie explains, "This opportunity is more than designing a shoe. It is also honoring women who look just like me —women of color, women who migrated to make better of themselves, women who dreamed big but had no direction or resources."
"I want to inspire women that with faith and hard work anything is possible. I would love for women designers to be motivated and to equip themselves with confidence because once you believe in yourself, you have already won."
Tulie adds, "[The adidas partnership] feels very liberating. I still get chills because I've never dreamed this big and, trust me, I’ve dreamed big. But this collaboration allows me to break boundaries, generational curses, and cement my legacy.
This article was published on May 23 and updated on June 22
