Pinoy artist Egg Fiasco talks his childhood and adidas collab: 'It's very personal'
Fashion is like a work of art. But what happens when you put an artwork into a fashion piece? It’s a whole new level of artistry.
Adidas, known as a creator brand, has had great success with its artistic collaborations, whether it's partnering with musicians like Pharell Williams and Ye or creating capsule collections with Stella McCartney or Karlie Kloss. Now, they're continuing that collaboration by joining forces with six local artists around Southeast Asia for the Adidas Ultraboost DNA City Pack, including the Philippines’ very own Greg Guleserian, or more commonly known as Egg Fiasco.
The UB DNA City Pack collection is a “coming-together of different cultures and people of Southeast Asia, presenting the versatility and richness of the cultures, communities and identities in the region.”
For the local contemporary artist, who’s known for his vibrant modern urban art, he channeled his childhood memories in the Philippines, such as playing video games.
“I discovered that the games that I used to play when I was a kid is the same color palette of my art works right now. So it became like a kick off concept for us. So doon na kami nag brainstorm and we're just bouncing ideas about how do we approach the the design of the shoe,” Fiasco said during the media roundtable interview.
The Philippine-edition of this Ultraboost collection features pops of orange and gold against the olive heel and navy upper made of Primeknit textile.
It also includes Fiasco’s signature character, a monkey, on the sock liner.
During the design process of the shoe, Fiasco learned that unlike creating street art, designing a shoe is not just about printing your artwork onto the piece, a lot of thought has to be put into it to make it wearable for everyone.
“It's really challenging to design a shoe that’s for sure,” he told PhilSTAR L!fe. “There are a lot of aspects on creating a shoe pala… You have to really put your thoughts on it para maging wearable sya to everyone,” Fiasco added.
Meanwhile, JD Cortez, adidas Philippines Brand Communications & Sports Marketing Manager, explained the meaning behind the collaboration saying that the brand’s advocacy as a creator brand is to “empower our local scene, our local culture, and show the world that we have actually global talent.”
“I'm really proud that, like for Egg's work, you can actually see it standing out and really letting the Philippines be heard in terms of its creativity. And that's just one Filipino, we have a lot of other Filipinos,” Cortez added.
While everything is still so surreal, Fiasco is grateful that Adidas recognized his talent and trusted him to be one of the six designers for the UB DNA City Pack.
“I'm a big fan of the brand ever since I was younger. Back in high school. I have a couple of Campus and Sambas because I'm trying to mimic my favorite bands back in the days. So designing Adidas is such a big deal for me. It's very personal actually,” he said.
“It was so satisfying that we pulled off the perfect color palette best to express or best to translate my childhood memories living here in the Philippines,” he said.
Each UltraBOOST DNA CITY PACK design retails for P10,000 from Nov. 11, 2021 at adidas.com.ph and select adidas stores.
