Adidas x Hélas launch heritage tennis-inspired collection

By

Cassidy Mantor

Published
May 4, 2017

Adidas is launching a second collaboration with French skateboarding label Hélas in celebration of heritage 80s tennis court style.

Hélas is a skateboarding brand started by Lucas Puig, Clement Brunel and Stephen Khou that pays tribute to heritage preppy sports style. It was inspired to form two years ago when the founders wanted to create a skate-relevant five panel style hat, and has developed a core skate following.

The Adidas collection, while designed and produced through Adidas Skateboarding, follows the Hélas aesthetic by offering a distinctly 80s court sports inspired look. Key pieces in the capsule collection include a windbreaker tracksuit, a tee, polo, custom hats and a reimagined Matchstick skateboarding shoe in the collection's heritage green and white color palette.

Price points range from $30 for the hats to $80 for the windbreaker jacket.

The Adidas x Hélas collaboration is indicative of why Adidas is riding an uptick of success. As brands seek authenticity to connect with a new generation of consumers, partnering up with young Hélas is an extremely authentic distribution strategy for Adidas.

As Brunel commented back when they were forming their brand, "You can never tell what’s going to happen when you start a company on a small scale with no experience, but I knew we were gonna do something cool!"

This is the second collaboration for Adidas with Hélas, following up last year's quickstrike that included a co-branded hat and footwear. The capsule collection launches in select Adidas stores throughout the US and on the Adidas Skateboarding website this Friday, May 5, 2017.