adidas’ Torben Schumacher Talks Us Through the Rebirth of adidas EQT

The launch of adidas EQT was a huge moment in the brand’s history. They were slipping against other sportswear giants and the German brand decided they needed a radical rethink of what the brand stood for: EQT was born. At the heart of the new area of the brand was a core philosophy: everything that is essential, nothing that is not. adidas stuck to this, and stripped themselves back to three colours: black, white and the soon to be iconic EQT green.

Over the following years, the EQT range became a cultural icon. Initially designed for athletes and sports people (hence the ‘equipment’ name), the trainers and apparel released under the EQT banner became a subcultural phenomenon. Now, a quarter of a century after EQT was first launched, adidas have gone back to the brand and updated it for 2017. The green that became synonymous with the brand is gone, replaced by Turbo Pink; new silhouettes are being launched; and the most modern of adidas technologies, from boost to primeknit, are now a key part of EQT.

We sat down with Torben Schumacher, the adidas Originals VP of product, to talk to him about these changes, why the ‘no bullshit’ ethos still resonates, and what it’s like to redesign one of the most iconic pillars of the adidas brand.

Where did the inspiration for this pack come from?

EQT itself is a huge inspiration for us and always has been, we have many sneakerheads in the team. In many ways it’s a bit of a holy grail for us because it represents such an important era for the brand, when the brand was in change and was looking for a new restart, a new beginning, and EQT is now the manifest of that new start and new beginning. I guess the values of EQT, no bullshit, focus on what’s essential are still very relevant today and if you then look at the design: so iconic, so specific, so bold, not trying to please everyone but trying to have a point of view that is based on who you are as a brand. We’ve been dancing around that idea of bringing it back and telling the story to a broader audience for the first time. Whilst there’s a huge followership, it’s still very much a sneakerhead followership of EQT and we feel this powerful story deserves to be told to a broader audience and we feel the time is right to tell the story.

You mentioned about ‘no bullshit’ and about identity, why do you think those ideas are still so important?

It is about purpose and about why you do certain things and that’s people are looking for these days, with what they buy, what they do, their work, try to find meaning. I guess it just underlines the importance of a story, or of a product if there’s a story behind it that is real, authentic and honest it just makes it a lot more meaningful. Really the idea behind EQT, this essentialism, this no bullshit, this honesty is as relevant today as it was at the beginning of the 90s when it was first introduced. I guess we can all relate to it, that’s why it’s so interesting to talk about.

EQT green is a really big part of the brand. What’s behind the decision to go for such a big change in colour?

Well, first of all there was a big internal discussion over lots of weeks, very emotional because there are lots of opinions on how to deal with colour and design, how to deal with those things. When we go back to the archive we look to the past to inform our future, we’ve been talking a lot about that ethos. If you look at EQT there are a few things that are really remarkable: the branding, the stripes are connected to the midsole, the shape that back in the day was really different and new and also now is very modern and then, lastly, colour. They all served a purpose. At the time, the EQT green wasn’t really the on trend colour for 1991 that people picked to please a broad audience. It was a conscious move to tell a story and to stand out and look different, and possibly not please everyone. What we tried to do is look at those things from the past but then ask ourselves ‘why have they been picked?’ and rather than try to replicate that, try to ask how this would be done today. We felt that you would pick a different colour to stand out, to be bold, to hit the zeitgeist, which we believe Turbo Red does. We also wanted to write the next chapter, not just extend the old. Hopefully in ten years time, it’s picked up by the next generation of guys sitting here and being referenced as another iconic part of the brand that shapes future generations of shoes.

In the 25 years that EQT has been around, there have been a lot of technical changes. How have you integrated these new, modern technologies into the brand?

That was an important part. That’s what I meant before of not being stuck in the old but trying to free up mind ideation for new things. Clearly expectations on comfort, lightweight, flexibility, and shape have totally changed over those 25 years. So to be relevant today and to talk to a different, younger generation you have to look at those things. The idea of the best of

EQT has a reputation as a cult favourite. Why do you think that is?

I think because it was really bold. At the time it was something very different, they took risks, they had to take a risk, by creating a range that is so simple, iconic, and they didn’t try to come up with 15 different colourways to try to find someone somewhere who will like the shoe, but a really strong point of view. And I guess this is what, then, led to the respect it got and why it was adopted by culture, why it was adopted by such a loyal followership, people appreciated that bold move and the boldness around it and the difference and how it stood out. Which to us is a huge inspiration.

Obviously you’ve spoken a lot about the history and the legacy. When you’re redesigning, in such a big way, something that has that history is it quite intimidating?

Well you have to try to not make it intimidate you. You have to be respectful to the past, but you also have to have the courage to imagine the future and to mess with the past. This is very much what our founder did, he would create shoes and then he would tear them apart and built them to create better shoes. The archive is great, but it can’t be a museum, it has to be a place for us to work with and to work from. So, specifically, EQT is really important and that’s why I said holy grail before, but we really worked hard, and that’s why probably it took a bit longer, to really create something new out of it, to really create a new chapter and not just a small evolution.

How did you set about creating a new chapter?

It’s a journey, you look at key identifying features of a different product in the archive. Little pieces that inspire us in a particular way and then you play with them and see where it takes you. There is no rulebook to that process, so it’s not like we have this one idea that we try to put on all the projects. It’s always a very unique and sometimes surprising journey, stumbling across ideas at very unusual moments.

The name equipment, and the history, is geared towards performance and sport but now it’s very much a lifestyle brand. How do you work with sporting legacy to make it lifestyle?

Clearly, when the shoes first came out they were created for sports to perform in and they were meant to be the best for the athlete. But then, like we discussed earlier, because of the approach to them and the design they were adopted by culture and became fashion, became streetwear. That’s now what we’re building on; that fashion, lifestyle, streerwear approach, the meaning for the sneaker world, and for us that was a starting point of how do we take this legacy and create the next chapter.

Take a look at the new adidas EQT collection below, and you can get your hands on them from Thursday 26th January.