adidas Originals and Avavav return for Spring Summer 2026 with a collection that pushes their shared design language further into distortion, humor, and controlled disruption. Creative director Beate Skonare Karlsson continues the collaboration through classic adidas references, then shifts them through illusion, proportion, and sculptural construction.
SPORTSWEAR
A cropped track top and matching track pant take on sculptural shapes, turning a recognizable athletic set into something more theatrical. A skintight base layer creates the appearance of a track top, extending a recurring motif from earlier adidas Originals by Avavav collections.
Karlsson also uses the collection to explore different expressions of femininity through cut, fit, and volume. A hooded mini dress and shoulderless hoodie shift the proportions of sportswear into more exposed, body-conscious territory. A T-shirt and denim pants bring new materials and silhouettes into the collaboration, expanding the collection beyond track references. Printed shorts challenge standard expectations of sportswear through surface and placement.
The lineup includes long socks, a sweatband set, a double brim slashed cap, and a leather sports bag. The bag holds particular importance within the partnership, as Avavav has returned to it in different forms since the first collection. For Spring Summer 2026, the sculpted leather sports bag arrives as the largest version produced so far, giving one of the collaboration’s key accessories a more exaggerated scale.
Footwear carries the collection’s strongest dialogue between distortion and function. The Avavav Megaride returns in a rawer form, transforming the larger Moonrubber Megaride from previous seasons into a cleaner, stripped-back silhouette. The design brings the adidas Megaride into the current moment through canvas and suede versions with windowed mesh uppers. These openings create an anatomical effect and reference Avavav’s cut-out caging, a detail that has become one of the label’s clearest visual signatures.
The Modified Superstar also returns with its sculpted toe cap intact, now presented in two variations. The Deconstructed Superstar uses a soft collapsible leather upper, giving the classic shell-toe shape a looser structure. The Shaved Pony Superstar introduces a faux pony-hair upper material, using texture to push the shoe into a more tactile direction.
Belgian photographer Lennert Madou, a longtime Avavav collaborator, photographs the campaign. His still lifes frame the collection through off-center compositions and a painterly eye, matching the collaboration’s mix of control and awkwardness.
The Spring Summer 2026 adidas Originals by Avavav collection launches globally on May 22. It will be available through CONFIRMED, adidas website, adidas stores, and select retailers.
