Mark McNairy x adidas McNasty Lo

• DESIGNED BY: Mark McNairy
• MADE IN: VIETNAM
• MADE ON: 11/12
• ART.NO: G96739
• FACTORY: SHW 675001

Catering to a high class crowd, Mark McNairy has made quite the name for himself across the US, the UK, and even in Japan, so it’s no wonder adidas has courted him for a collab.

And the timing of the collab is relevant too, as McNairy’s most recent project is entitled Mark McNairy New Amsterdam: a two-fold collection of footwear that blurs the lines between American and British culture and style with a humorous approach to design.

Before this new collection of his own and the adidas interaction featured here, McNairy’s main body of work has been J. Press, a clothing line to which he contributed his care and genius since 2005. The products produced by J. Press cater almost entirely to the Ivy League demographic and their stores and items are placed and priced respectively to this community.

Another brand to which McNairy has touched with his sense of fine tailoring is Southwick, helping them continue to create American clothing for the ‘gentleman’ in 2009. And while his work is obviously spreading across the globe and we find it no surprise that a big brand would approach him, it’s a bit curious that the brand happened to be adidas.

Quite definitely the polar opposite of a high class or gentlemen’s brand (although I can here the likes of underground and online groups such as ATM fast to argue me down there), the good old three stripes certainly do have roots in honor, whether that be in the early days of German athleticism as it went global, or the later years of the 20th century when the casual scene in the UK (and beyond) took hold of the brand and never quite let it go. But from those days until now, many other personalities and pockets of life have rebranded adidas in ways that tear it vividly away from thoughts and images of a gentlemen’s brand. Take Run DMC for instance. Certainly not the type of spokespersons you’d imagine hanging around in tennis sweaters and sipping cognac in some drawing room at a cliff-side chateau.

Despite this fact of brand identity, adidas Originals has joined forces and pushed out a new silhouette entitled the McNasty Lo (apparently a take on the Hookshot), in both white and eggplant, and yellow and navy colorways. Why the name? We’ve honestly no idea, but maybe it’s a tongue-in-cheek reference to doing sports work after the fine upscale crowd he’s used to. Whatever the reason, we’re even more curious what the trefoil purists will think of this pack, and especially the new McNasty Lo.

written by Dylan Cromwell

photography by errol