MANILA, PHILIPPINES — As a celebration of the love that connects us all, adidas is taking its long-running ‘Love Unites’ platform global for Pride 2021. The brand will release a 30+ piece Pride collection alongside a global campaign spotlighting influential members and allies of the LGBTQ+ community.
With pieces spanning style and performance wear, the expansive collection looks to hero a ‘Do It Yourself’ (DIY) visual aesthetic born from the LGBTQ+ communities who had sought to create their own spaces for self-expression. This ‘DIY’ aesthetic is what inspires the fluid geometries as well as the expressive and layered graphics seen throughout the collection which includes special Pride colorways of classic adidas silhouettes like Nizza, Forum, UltraBoost 5.0 DNA and AdiZero Pro V1 as well as a colorful line-up of apparel from bucket hats and jumpsuits to sports bras, shorts, and jerseys.
adidas first-ever Pride Pack was released in 2015, developed by a group of adidas employees who came together to explore ways they could create more meaningful products for a coming PRIDE march. The product served as a symbol of their rich history in sport merged with their long-standing support of the LGBTQ+ movement.
What was hugely important and continues to be, is that adidas not only celebrates the LGBTQ+ community, but also gives back. By funding and creating multi-year partnerships with organizations devoted to ending homophobia and transphobia in sport—like Athlete Ally and Stonewall UK— the brand has been able to elevate existing work as well as co-create new programs to break down barriers for LGBTQ+ communities. Their brand actions are all firmly rooted in their belief that to end homophobia and transphobia in sport, there has to be equal representation of LGBTQ+ people in all sport and fitness communities, at all levels.
Providing their brand as a platform, this year’s ‘Love Unites’ campaign will spotlight the adidas partners who are active members and supporters of the LGBTQ+ community, a collective of athletes and artists who have made incredible strides forward as champions of inclusivity:
- Layshia Clarendon – the first openly transgender professional basketball player
- Amanda Zahui B – professional basketball player and vocal supporter of the Black Lives Matter movement
- Chelsea Gray – professional basketball player
- Collin Martin – Professional soccer player
- Ashlyn Harris and Ali Krieger – Professional soccer players, teammates, and married couple
- Rachel Daly – professional soccer player
- Tom Daley – former world champion 10m diver and current World Series champion
- Aleia Hobbs – American track and field athlete
- Pabllo Vittar – Brazilian singer and songwriter
- Rich Mnisi – South African fashion designer
- Thebe Magugu – South African fashion designer
- Chinae Alexander – Lifestyle and wellness expert
- Jessamyn Stanley – American yoga teacher, writer and body positivity advocate
- Cody Rigsby – famed fitness trainer
The 2021 ‘Love Unites’ collection goes live on June 1, 2021 at http://adidas.com/
