How Adidas has become a real obsession in Russia<

Greetwestyle

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By Hong-Kyung Kang

Adidas X Gosha Rubchinskiy

Do you know the GoPniks?It is these Russian Russian thugs that drag in groups, always photographed sitting in squat at the bottom of the blocks.More than a reality, they have now become a tenacious snapshot, the representation that many people have of the Russian "scum".

If the GoPniks have also become identifiable, it is largely because of their outfit made up of an exquisite mixture of tracksuits, leather shoes, counterfeits ... and adidas.Indeed, the Adidas ensemble, prized by most GoPniks, is almost like a uniform.It is this passion for the brand with three bands which gives this charm so particular to the aesthetics of these Russian thugs.

Hapes, hammer and three bands

(© Youtube - "What is Gopnik?")

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The meeting between Adidas and Russia took place in 1980, the year of the Moscow Olympic Games.For the occasion, the brand had signed a deal with the Soviet government to become the sponsor of the event, and thus equip national athletes.Indeed, Adidas' know-how was very useful for the USSR, which did not have the techniques necessary to make sportswear.

However, the Adidas logo was not really visible on the jerseys of Soviet athletes.Indeed, in the midst of the Cold War context, the Soviet government did not tolerate that representatives of the nation display a capitalist logo.Of the three bands, signature of the sports brand, only two were therefore embroidered on the outfits.

Despite this, Adidas still managed to make themselves known by the Soviet people.In addition, as it had been carried by the highest sporting elite, the three -band brand had become the ultimate symbol of chic for the locals.Wearing Adidas clothes, which were then very expensive and difficult to find in the USSR, had become a real symbol of wealth.

Gopniks reappropriation

And if the street has reclaimed all the clothing trends, this passion for Adidas was not going to be an exception.Some thugs from the least favored social class of Moscow, designated by the very pejorative term of "Gopniks", began to wear clothes of the brand with three bands as a sign of wealth and success (yes, a bit likeRalph Lauren and the Lo-Life).

How were the most disadvantaged to get these "luxury" clothes?As the Youtubeur Gouvhd explains, it is thanks to ... Bernard Tapie.Indeed, to give a new stroke to the brand whose image was aging, the businessman decides to change the logo and replaces the lotus with the three -band pyramid.In order to sell old stocks, Lotus stamped items are found in second -hand stores in Eastern Europe, at affordable prices.

Gopniks, but also the other social classes of the ex-USSR, therefore torn off Adidas tracks, a sign of wealth that had thus become accessible.This is how this special aesthetic, which some would qualify for bad taste, has spread in Eastern Europe, to become so iconic that it is known everywhere everywhere.

A resurgence of the gopniks aesthetics

Today, GoPniks, as they are imagined or as they may have existed in the 1980s, are no longer.However, they remain in pop culture, always represented in an adidas ensemble, and seated in squat, the cigarette in the beak.However, the dress codes that made this identifiable social class now have their followers in 2020.

More generally, we can note, in recent years, a resurgence of Soviet symbols in fashion.For example, lettering in a cyrillic alphabet are becoming more and more present on clothing.As for the three-band brand, it has now become inseparable from post-Soviet aesthetics, as evidenced by its many collaborations with Gosha Rubchinskiy.

A story that reminds us that the birth of the thugs always makes the general public fantasize, and that bad taste always ends up becoming trendy.