Adidas relaunches emerging talent progrgam

By

Kate Dingwall

Published
Apr 6, 2017

Adidas is reopening its design academy, a program launched to help train talented young designers in the apparel and footwear fields. The 24-month program will be open to young designers across the world.

There is one catch: all applicants must truly be an 'emerging' talent – applicants must have under two years experience to apply and must hold a degree in fashion, graphic design, or an equivalent degree. 

The young designers will be given the opportunity to work alongside the Adidas design teams in Portland Oregon, and Herzogenaurach, Germany. Each designer will participate in a four-week rotation in the brand design, product marketing, product development, and innovation sectors of the Adidas brand. 

Chosen participants will learn the ins and outs of shoe and apparel creation, from initial sketches to technical drawings to producing the final product. 

Creatives accepted into the program will choose to focus on apparel, footwear, color, and materials, or graphics. The German location will focus on footwear, while the Oregon location specializes in graphics.

Adidas has been known to hire directly out of the program. As part of the promotional material for the program, Adidas has highlighted the successes of Raffaella, a womenswear designer with Adidas who graduated the program.