Adidas Originals has enlisted ‘a new cast of creative visionaries’ for the third ad of its Original Is Never Finished platform, which colourfully riffs on the work of Botticelli and da Vinci to a haunting remix of Frank Sinatra’s My Way.
Kendall Jenner – debatable in her role as a ‘creative visionary’ but an Adidas ambassador nonetheless – is joined by Playboi Carti, 21 Savage, Young Thug and James Harden. The cast was selected as the new generation to promote the notion of originality, and appear in a range of mind-bending scenes.
Carti, for instance, sits on an Egyptian throne while basketball player Harden floats in a circular ice bath. These ‘cultural connectors’ represent modern reproductions the Old Masters’ artworks – particularly da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man – as the song reaches a chorus-sung climax.
L'Uomo Vitruviano was chosen by Adidas and its global creative agency of record, Johannes Leonardo, as a symbol of ‘power, proportions and a perception of an ideal’.
Alegra O’Hare vice president of global communications for Adidas Originals & Core, said: “When we released Originals Is Never Finished for the first time we challenged ourselves to redefine what it means to be original. With the release of chapter three we are putting our words into practice and reinventing our own work.
“For us to inspire our creative community, we as a brand must to live up to the challenge, and with Originals Is Never Finished we do just that.”
Today (10 August) also saw Adidas’ long-time rival Nike release new work celebrating the career of Mo Farrah.
