How Run-DMC invented the collaboration between hip-hop and sneaker brands with “My Adidas” in 1986

Nowadays nothing is as obvious as thatCollaboration between fashion brands and hip-hop artists: Travis Scott and, A$ap Rocky and Puma, Gucci Mane and Reebok and of courseand(before he completely freaks out). Both sides always seem to benefit from this merger, otherwise there wouldn't be so many of them. And the first to launch such a collab were Run-DMC. And that was in 1986.

To understand the connection that undeniably exists between rappers and fashion labels, you have to go back to the beginning of hip-hop culture.is in the late 1970swas created at a time when there was a lot of poverty in the city, especially among the black population. The young people therefore longed - logically - for everything that was denied them due to their poverty - like cool clothes, for example. Although the first rappers of their time mainly sang party lyrics, it wasn't long before the first of them began to reflect on their surroundings and rap for a better future. Status symbols such as fashion also played a role. The rap crew Run-DMC played the most important role in the collaboration between hip-hop and fashion - simply because they were the first to do so.

Run-DMC, consisting of the two rappers Run and DMC as well as DJ Jam Master Jay, was founded in 1982 in the New York borough of Queens and released their first single in 1983:It’s Like That- a song that experienced a second spring in 1997 thanks to the remix by Jason Nevis and became an international hit. Russell Simmons, Run's older brother, was already involved as producer on their first album. A year later, Russell founded the legendary Def Jam label with Rick Rubin and also signed his brother's band, Run-DMC, to it.

Even back then, sneakers were important for young people as a status symbol to set themselves apart and look cool. The Adidas Superstar was also a model popular with young people in the Black community, which at the time was often worn without laces. This was to be understood as a kind of nod to US prisons, because logically anything that could serve as a weapon or tool was forbidden there, including shoelaces. The inmates therefore often had to walk around with open shoes - and so Run-DMC also wore their superstars without laces.

In general, the group often presented itself in a uniform style, i.e. with gold chains, fedora hats and tracksuits as well as sneakers from Adidas. The German sporting goods manufacturer played an important role at the beginning of Run-DMC's career. That's probably why the rap crew felt almost personally attacked when they heard about a poem that a neighborhood doctor had written. Said doctor, Dr. Deas, worked at Jamaica Hospital Medical Center in Queens and, through his job, often witnessed the violence on the streets as he constantly had to patch up the victims. In response, he wrote a poem calledFelon Sneaker. In it he talked about black Lee jeans, Cazal sunglasses, thick chains and sneakers without laces. The “Felon Sneakers” he described were a symbol of the constant violence in the neighborhood. Said poem quickly became a rap song.

Run-DMC saw this denigration of “their” adidas sneakers as an affront. For them, the shoes were not a symbol of violence and the brutalization of their neighborhood, but rather a form of expression of their personality and a stylish fashion item. As a replyFelon SneakerSo they wrote their very personal anthem on their favorite shoe - by the way, without any commercial ulterior motives and probably at the suggestion of Russell Simmons, who suggested that they write a song about where they had already been with their Adidas ("Walk through concert doors/And roam all over coliseum floors/I stepped on stage/At Live Aid…"). And so the song was released in May 1986 as the first single from their third albumRaising Helland met with open ears and increasingly more fans, particularly in the burgeoning hip-hop community.

The result was not only that the single sold well (5th place in the "Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs"), adidas also suddenly recorded increasing sales of the superstar and initially couldn't explain the phenomenon - especially at the time Nike and Reebok ruled the market. The head of marketing at adidas at the time was a guy named Angelo Anastasio, who lived in Los Angeles and was very familiar with pop and rock, but had no idea about rap. One day he was asked if he had ever heard of the rap group Run-DMC. His response was just: "What the hell is rap? And who the hell Run-DMC?!" However, when he was played the song, he understood - and saw potential in it. Because a Run-DMC concert was scheduled to take place a little later in New York's Madison Quare Garden, he quickly got on the plane and headed to the Big Apple. What he heard and saw there made his jaw drop.

As the band played their energetic show that had the audience going wild, Anastasio was already mesmerized. But then the band starts,My Adidasto perform. As part of this, rapper DMC asked the audience to take off their sneakers and hold them up for the song. As 20,000 people then began to march to the sounds ofMy AdidasTo do exactly that (not all sneakers were from adidas, but hey), Anastasio was completely over the moon. After his return, Anastasio immediately told his bosses about it, including the Dassler bosses in Germany, and shortly afterwards Run-DMC had signed the first high-dollar sponsorship deal in history between hip-hop artists and sneaker brands. The blueprint for every further collaboration between rappers and sneaker brands. Total: one million US dollars.

The timing couldn't have been better for adidas, because Run-DMC released the song as their next singleWalk This Waywith the rockers Aerosmith; a crossover song that also appealed to white audiences and became a worldwide hit - and made the adidas-clad Run-DMC pop stars.

As part of the deal, the band members were of course equipped with all sorts of clothes and even got their own shoe, the adidas Ultrastar. This is the Run-DMC version of the Superstar with elastic bands on the inside of the tongue so that the shoe doesn't sag too much when running.

In 2001, Adidas even launched its own division for the retro business, Adidas Originals, which other sneaker brands such as Puma and New Balance later followed - although not quite as successfully. When the superstar celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2020, the Run DMC shoe came onto the market again as a new edition - and was as popular as ever.