On an episode of his show, ‘Gils Arena’, Gilbert Arenas explained how he influenced Adidas to rethink their design approach, particularly regarding their iconic three-stripe logo. When he signed with the brand, Arenas noticed that the traditional placement of the three stripes was limiting the creative potential of the shoe’s overall design.
“The Adidas sign wasn’t traditional. So I said, you know what, because you know how Adidas had the three stripes. And I said, just tradition, if you look at all the shoes that’s out there, their logo, your logo is too big.”
“It takes up the artwork of it. So my first one, I was like, yo, can you put the logo on the back? So if you look at my first shoe, so yeah, so I had So instead of having the three here, to mess up the design, I had the three put on the heel part of it.”
“Yeah, I told then, this is where I want my look. So this was the design I came up with. And then part two, I said, I want my s**t to look good here. Like, you know, the MJs, this and this. And then put the look, cause I’m like, well, we gotta put the logo somewhere.”
“I’m like, put it on the inside of the shoe. So if you look at my GIL 02s, the three stripes is here. Now, so like, if you look at James Harden, he got the three stripes in the back. So they started getting creative of moving it. It didn’t hurt it.”
Gilbert Arenas’ first shoe with Adidas, the GIL Zero, reflected his desire to change this. Instead of placing the three stripes on the sides of the shoe, which would have disrupted the design, Arenas suggested a new placement for the logo—on the back heel. This allowed the shoe’s overall design to shine without being overwhelmed by the brand’s logo.
Arenas also played a crucial role in altering how Adidas approached the design for his second shoe, the GIL 02. He pushed for even more creative freedom by suggesting that the three stripes be placed on the inside of the shoe, allowing for a cleaner and sleeker outer appearance.
This design philosophy soon influenced other players’ shoes, with stars like James Harden also incorporating a less prominent placement for the Adidas stripes on the back of the shoe.
Through his insistence on creative design over traditional branding, Arenas helped usher in a new era of flexibility in Adidas footwear design, proving that player influence can change even the most iconic elements of a brand.
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