Adidas Adigirl is a new apparel collection designed specifically for the teen athlete, unveiled last week. The line is being sold exclusively at Dick’s Sporting Goods as well as at Adidas Sport Performance stores.
“Adidas desires to be the best sports brand in the world and we can’t do that without making a meaningful connection with the female athlete,” said Kate Ridley, VP of Adidas training. With women’s activewear being a “very broad category,” however, Adidas sought to “refocus on sporty teen athletes.”
Research, including conversations with scores of young female athletes, showed that that the teen female athlete didn’t have product that fit her performance needs nor that reflected her style.
Adigirl draws inspiration from five team sports: basketball, volleyball, track, softball and soccer. Using these activities as a starting point, Adidas’ designers infused Adigirl with the same technologies found in Adidas’ other Sport Performance products, including Climacool and Climalite for breathable, lightweight comfort.
Details directly addressed the needs of each sport, noted Adidas designer Ashley Anson. For instance, basketball players need a nine-inch inseam, a looser fit and a mesh body in their shorts. For soccer and baseball, shorts call for a five-inch inseam and a knit and woven option. For track and volleyball, girls look for a two-inch inseam, tighter fit and woven with a brief underlay in their shorts.
But the collection also includes a host of items girls can “wear with anything,” said Anson. The focus for the current season is on soft-mesh t-shirts and looser-fitting sweatshirts. Bold color is a key component to the Adigirl aesthetic, with a palette that includes bright reds, deep purples, multiple shades of blue and floral prints, in addition to basic shades of concrete grey and black.
Equally important is the collection’s focus on function. Windbreakers with slit-open, center back seams offer cooling ventilation while the backs of sleeveless t-shirts reveal rows of circular cutouts – a punk touch that embraces both performance and style. The line also includes sports bras, tanks, long-sleeve tops, tights, pants and jackets.
“Adigirl was created to specifically meet the needs of the female teen athlete and provide her with versatile options that can be worn for more than just practice,” said Katie Becker, senior design director for Adidas training and sportswear. “We brought a fashion element to the design process that adds a fresh look and style that is unique to the Adigirl collection.”
Adidas women’s athletes T’erea Brown, Erika Tymrak and Louisa Chirico took part in the line introduction and reminisced on their style challenges as young athletes.
“I wasn’t extremely popular actually growing up,” admitted Tymrak, a mid-fielder for Kansas City FC, the American professional soccer club. “I was awkward, goofy and disproportionately shaped. But soccer allowed me to escape and it gave me the confidence that has helped define me.”
As for fashion options, Tymrak said her soccer shirts would shrink and “look like crop tops but crop tops weren’t popular in that day.” Tymrak added, “When I saw the Adigirl collection I was super jazzed because I would have definitely worn this.”
Backs of sleeveless t-shirts reveal rows of circular cutouts – a punk touch that embraces performance and style
As part of the launch, Adigirl will be introduced with a color-saturated marketing campaign with in-store, digital and social components, as well as grassroots consumer events, said Kelly Olmstead, Adidas’ senior director brand communications.
The voice of the campaign focuses the notion that “she is an athlete foremost,” while also demonstrating the multi-faceted, unique teen that she is. The accompanying campaign photography captures the spirit of the teen athlete, as she goes about her day-to-day training routines. The visuals also feature copy that playfully reimagines elements of teen fashion, filtering them through an athletic lens. For example, in the Adigirl campaign, the phrase “My Runway” takes on new meaning and refers to the high school stadium bleachers on which a group of teens sprint repeatedly during their daily team practice. This and three other taglines are used throughout the campaign, each capturing different moments of a teen athlete’s experiences.
In partnership with Dick’s Sporting Goods, Adigirl will launch through a series of in-store marketing activations and a special launch event at the Dulles Town Center in the Washington D.C. area. The collection ranges from $25 for the three-stripe bra to $90 for the woven fleece jacket.
“We are thrilled with the Adigirl line and how it came to life in our stores,” said Kate Boyce, VP and DMM, Dick’s Sporting Goods, in a statement. “It speaks to the teen girl in a new way – unique from our current assortment – which is why we’re excited to be the exclusive big box retailer to launch the Adigirl Collection.”
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