Following the launch of SPZL F.C., the new collection from the premium adidas Originals sub-label, we caught up with brand curator, Gary Aspden, to find out more about the project, including how Jurgen Klopp became involved.
Having celebrated its 10 year anniversary with the SPZL DECADE event and compendium piece, the SPZL DECADE book, earlier this year, both of which looked back on a glorious ten years of existence, attention has turned to the future for adidas SPZL this week. That’s because the veil was lifted on SPZL F.C. – a new concept within adidas SPZL that celebrates the culture of football by bridging the worlds of lifestyle and sport.
All things considered, it’s an interesting next step for the brand, given that SPZL has always had its roots in the beautiful game. Rather than just tapping into terrace culture with a fashion-forward footstep though, this is a full-on two-footed lunge into the performance side of football, thanks to the presence of a true icon of the game – no, not Jurgen Klopp, who was brought in to face this first collection (although arguments could be had for his stature in the game, certainly by Liverpool fans at least). We are, of course, talking about the fact that the Copa Mundial lines up in the collection, with it being the first time SPZL has ever featured a football boot.
“We took on two of adidas's most iconic football products and tweaked them with design features that are loaded with classic adidas DNA,” Gary Aspden explained when we touched base with the SPZL curator and creator to pick his brains about the project. Key in our minds when speaking with him were the choice of Copa Mundial in the collection and the reasoning behind that, and just how Jurgen Klopp became involved. And Aspden being Aspden didn’t disappoint in taking a deep dive and talking us through it all.
adidas SPZL has always had links to football, but SPZL F.C. really solidifies those links. What was the thinking behind it?
With adidas SPZL the agenda has always been to create products with a strong adidas identity and to me, adidas and football are inseparable. Whilst adidas is a global brand, adidas SPZL operates through a very European lens – it’s had a very European aesthetic from the beginning. adidas is part of the foundations of what football is – the Three Stripes are integral to the identity of many sports, but for me personally when I think of adidas, football is the sport I immediately think of.
It seemed an obvious step and progression for adidas SPZL to work with the team in Herzogenaurach, who run adidas Football. There are people in that team who have been very complimentary about the work we do with adidas SPZL over the years and I have huge respect for the work they do, so I had no hesitation when they approached us about working together on this project. We were all aware that there are a lot of people who buy and support the SPZL range who play football who we could further cater to with the boots and turf shoes.
When did you first start spit-balling the idea of SPZL F.C.?
When I joined adidas I was told, “if in doubt ask yourself what would our founder, Adi Dassler, have done?” For Adi, the athlete came before everything and since the launch of SPZL we have included a variety of football players for our marketing campaigns – from Luke Shaw to Kieran Tierney to Lukas Podolski. adidas at its core is a performance sports brand and whilst we make lifestyle products for SPZL, it's always been important for me to remember that and keep that as a consideration in what we do.
Furthermore, the love that many football fans have organically shown towards adidas SPZL has been a huge compliment to the work we do – for me it doesn't get much better than seeing the SPZL logo on a football banner or team stickers that acknowledge the range. I was away at Huddersfield last Boxing Day and as I went to get a drink at half time there was a fan-made Rotherham sticker with a Spezial logo on it that had been stuck by the exit during a previous fixture. It's moments like that when you realise how far it has come and just how into the range some people are.
How did Jurgen Klopp get involved, and why him?
First and foremost he loves adidas and particularly the SPZL products. I met him a couple of years ago when he was speaking at an adidas event and gifted him a few pieces from the SPZL range, which he really liked. He’s an adidas brand ambassador, so I put a request in for him to be the face of SPZL F.C. and he was really enthused about being involved and it came together really easily from there.
He’s a great man with a great sense of humour and incredible charisma, and furthermore he looked great in the range. We had given him early pairs of the Copa Mundial SPZL, which he wore for his last training session at Liverpool and also a pair of the Mundial Team SPZL turf shoes, which he wore for his final game at Anfield. Whilst we understand that there will always be tribalism between football clubs we felt that Jürgen Klopp is one of those characters who is respected by most fans of the game regardless of what team you follow.
Over the last Decade, SPZL has grown a really tight-knit following – do you see that changing at all with the introduction of SPZL F.C.?
I have no idea – we’re trying a new concept that may or may not work. It offers a new strand to what adidas SPZL already offers. We fully realise that if adidas SPZL works with an adidas sponsored club then there will always be rival fans who might be discontented, but that's the nature of the tribalism that surrounds football. We also know that there are many fans of the SPZL range whose football clubs may be sponsored by other brands (I am a Blackburn fan and we don't have an adidas kit) so we wanted to navigate those factors as constructively as possible. As a consequence, we have made a generic SPZL F.C. range to sit alongside the club specific products (which we plan to release at a later date) that introduce the concept by offering neutrality and an entry point for anybody regardless of club allegiances. Hopefully people will understand that this is about creating a progressive extension to adidas's sporting portfolio and isn't about anyone's preferred teams.
In terms of the product, what were the main considerations when curating this new collection?
We wanted to make a football boot and an Astro turf shoe which is a first for adidas SPZL. We took on two of adidas's most iconic football products and tweaked them with design features that are loaded with classic adidas DNA. We followed a similar colour palette across both shoes to offset against the iconic black base and white stripes.
We reworked the Mundial Team with a suede T toe overlay as it felt like something that could (and perhaps should) have been done before. This gives the shoe a different look but one that isn't too far removed from its adidas football heritage. There was some back and forth on the length of the tongue – do we shorten it to make it more like a lifestyle shoe or do we stay with the longer tongue that the Mundial Team has historically used? We opted to stick with the longer tongue as a statement that these are in essence a shoe for playing in.
With the design of the Copa Mundial SPZL there was a definite nod to my first adidas boots – the Beckenbauer Super with red studs, which I had as a kid in the 70s. For the apparel, we based it in a charcoal grey palette as we didn't want it overtly allied to any club colours. The colours were limited but those limitations in some way forced us to think differently about the design.
The tracksuit reminds me of the leisure suits we produced in the early seasons. The fabrication is definitely one for the winter months – it feels great on.
The Copa Mundial is obviously an incredibly historic boot – was there any trepidation on your part in incorporating that in the collection?
None whatsoever – I wouldn't have touched them if I didn't think we could deliver a version that would feel respectful to the heritage whilst considering the design language of iconic adidas boots. It was a dream to be given the opportunity to work on them (along with my friend Charles Lovett). I personally am very traditionalist around football boots and whilst there have been many great boots produced with fantastic performance technology in them, I firmly believe that in terms of classic football boot design the black with three white stripes will never be surpassed. It's not flash or showy – it's iconic, and to me personally it's just right.
The Copa Mundial are a nailed on design classic and are part of the adidas Crown Jewels. We most definitely wouldn't have wanted to touch them if we weren't confident that we could create something strong with the ideas we brought to them. To have this opportunity and not get these right would be sacrilege for someone who cares as much about the brand as I do. A Made in Germany black leather football boot with three clean white stripes? If you know adidas then you know that products really don't get any more adidas than that. The gum outsole with red studs of the SPZL version brings a newness to them without compromising their iconic design credentials and that colour palette runs through the upper details. As I often say with design, it's not always about what you add but also about what you don't add.
It’s only just begun, but what do you see the future of SPZL F.C. being?
We will just have to see how people respond to it. If it's well received then perhaps we will build it steadily, but we want to hold off on doing anything with the big global clubs from adidas's portfolio until further down the line. adidas SPZL currently has its strongest customer base here in the UK, so it makes sense to begin with UK clubs. But in the future we could even go beyond these shores. It's impossible to predict at this stage.
Photography by Kevin Cummins.
The SPZL F.C. collection arrives in limited quantities on 17 September and is available through Confirmed and select retailers.
Please note, the Copa Mundial SPZL F.C. and Mundial Team SPZL F.C. will only be available via Confirmed and Mondays adidas Carnaby Pre-Sale event in very limited quantities.
