John Schofield x adidas Tobacco

• MODEL: ADIDAS TOBACCO
• DESIGNED BY: John Schofield
• MADE IN: UNITED KINGDOM
• MADE ON: --/12

This UK-based terrace classic lovin’ mad man doesn’t seem to be letting up anytime soon. After the custom jobs we’ve already featured he’s back in action with a bloody brilliant pair for an aggressively successful (in the sense of grail hunting), young trainer collector who’s also living in England. Instead of sitting down with John we got in touch with Ben Cain (the buyer) to see what he thinks about these new Schofield originals.

Ben, my man, your growing OG collection is hardcore, but for those that don’t know you already, can you tell us a bit about yourself?

I’m Ben, live in Reading Berkshire, and I work in telesales.

Short and sweet. More importantly, how’d you get started with this trainer addiction?

Just grew up always wanting the nicest trainers and it just so happens they were normally adidas or Air Max 95′s in my younger days.

What made adidas win that brand battle for you?

Just the styles mostly, like these Tobacco for example are very sleek and just look so good on your feet. Also the original City Series. I just had the pleasure of picking up another pair of OG Stockholm’s and the quality of them just can’t be matched in my opinion.

We know what you mean Ben, the City Series releases are some of our favorites. Now how’d you hook up with Schofield?

I’ve known John for a while, we’ve been on a few of the same clothing forums, and always loved the work he’s done on every pair.

And what lead to this custom Tobacco job?

As soon as we first caught wind of the all white Tobacco I had so many ideas running through my adi-obsessed mind and just had to get some done.

Opportunity knocked I guess. Though is there anything special about the silhouette itself for you?

The Tobacco is my favourite silhouette of them all, closely followed by the Odenwalde sole City Series, so it was no competition choosing this pair.

So then what do you think about this new Tobacco compared to past releases?

The shape and quality are amazing. The shape’s a lot closer to the OG’s although not as close as I’d have liked, but it’s a step in the right direction considering some of adidas’ re-issues in the past few years. The suede is better then you’d expect and it seems they’ve actually found some proper gum soles which makes a pleasant change.

Why this colorway? Did you pick it or did John pick it?

Well, as I said, I’m obsessed with adidas Tobacco. They’re easily my favourite silhouette adidas has released and one of many pairs of Tobacco which have eluded me are the Hungarian Tobacco so I wanted a pair as close as possible to them while not being a complete carbon copy.

Keepin’ it original, you know we like that Ben! Lastly, do you think you’ll grab another custom from John in the future?

Of course! John has a talent which I shall certainly be calling upon in the future.

Cheers Ben. Thanks for your time, and big props go out to Schofield for pushing out quality trabs, one colorway at a time.

written by Dylan Cromwell

photography by errol

shoes contributed by Ben Cain