Adidas and New York City Mayor Celebrate Run-DMC and the 50th Anniversary of Hip-Hop
Stephen Garner
Senior Editor
Adidas Originals and Run-DMC are coming together to celebrate the 50th anniversary of hip-hop with a new pop-up shop.
Located inside Bleecker Trading at 96 Christopher St. in NYC, the new pop-up is now open through Aug. 12 and aims to pay homage to the success of Run-DMC, who have championed and worn Adidas Superstar sneakers throughout their career.
Visitors to the shop, which coincides with Run-DMC’s Aug. 11 return to headline the 50th anniversary of hip-hop concert, will find merchandise from Barriers Worldwide and The Crate NY, in addition to other Run-DMC novelty items.
To mark the opening of the limited pop-up, Adidas hosted an event on Wednesday night at the shop, where NYC Mayor Eric Adams proclaimed Aug. 9 as “Run-DMC Day.” Rev Run from the legendary hip-hop group was in attendance, as well as Adidas North American president Rupert Campbell and the creator of the Adidas Superstar sneaker, Chris Severn. The evening featured sets from DJ Skratchbastid and gave guests a walk down memory lane, paying homage to the group.
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“Adidas Originals is intricately woven into the fabric of hip-hop culture,” Campbell said in a statement. “As a brand that embodies authentic creativity, we are so proud that we brought the Superstar to Run-DMC and they brought it to the world.”
Adidas is the latest footwear brand to mark the occasion of the 50th anniversary of hip-hop.
Earlier this year, Timberland launched the Hip-Hop Royalty Boot. Many different elements of the boot, designed by Chris Dixon, Timberland’s senior footwear designer of advanced concepts and energy, were created with meaning. These include the purple upper as a nod to the color’s long-term association with royalty and power, as well as a graffiti mural in the Bronx dedicated to hip-hop’s creator, DJ Kool Herc.
In July, Puma launched the nostalgic “Mixtape” collection, created in partnership with Roc Nation, Paper Planes co-founder Emory Jones and footwear designer Alexander John.
Other projects have also marked this year’s milestone. In June, NBC News shined a light on the legacy of retailer DTLR in its documentary “50 Years of Fly: The Rise, Fall and Revolution of Hip-Hop Fashion.” What’s more, the Museum at FIT in NYC marked the occasion with an exhibit earlier this year titled “Fresh, Fly and Fabulous: Fifty Years of Hip Hop Style.”
