Apr 5, 2021
Adidas and Stella McCartney have launched a new campaign and collection under the Beach Defender title
as the final drop in the Adidas by Stella McCartney SS21 offer. It’s heavily tech-based and the campaign pays homage to “today’s change-makers and the unique ways in which they move through the world”.
The campaign was creatively directed by Netti Hurley and Monika Mogi, “capturing a new line-up of activists connected by their passion for change, conserving our planet’s waters and the invigoration that physical movement brings”.
The new collection itself is an interesting mix of the technical, the practical and the strongly eco-focused. For instance, new pieces include a high-performance Trisuit and Pull On lightweight jacket, the latter coming with a built-in mesh bag “to collect sea trash” .
The offer is very big on technical detail and we’re told it “delivers on the performance needs of next-gen athletes”. The 3-in-1 ClimaCool Vento shoe with removable inner sock can be worn for a large variety of workouts, helping to provide items for use on both land and in the water. Meanwhile, the Bikini Top and Bikini Short made with recycled polyamide offer a supportive, racer style for run and swim.
Taking inspiration from water, the palette features a fresh colour blocking style with tones of white and storm blue.
Water has a big part of play in the creative that comes along with the collection too. Hurley and Mogi have picked a line-up of creators and activists include marine biologists, waterfall climbers and wild water swimmers, “enlisted to capture their message on film against a stunning natural world backdrop”.
They include Nagakura Nami, an activist and mineral water researcher, Monika Mogi travelled to where she lives by Mount Fuji, using the landscape "to document tender moments between mother and daughter as they swim in the wild and preserve the land around it”.
Starring alongside Nagakura, Takigawa Ayaka is a Sawanabori practitioner, mountain guide and hiker “who is a firm believer in all forms of movement that foster a connection to nature”. She’s seen climbing the rocks and swimming in the pools of a Japanese waterfall.
And UK-based Hurley chose cast members “who are setting the tone for a better future, celebrating their passion and energy on film”. That means open water swimmer and journalist, Seren Jones, “chosen for championing the importance of swimming as a life-saving skill, encouraging more people in BIPOC communities to learn how to feel safe in the water”.
There’s also Ayesha Tan Jones, artist and musician and co-founder of Shadow Sistxrs Fight Club – “a physical and meta-physical self-defence class for women, non-binary people and QTIPOC”.
They’re seen “with emotive visuals as they move across the banks of Bewl Water”.
Mccartney said of all this that the aim is to “shine a spotlight on those connected to, and helping to protect the world and its waters. I was so inspired by the idea of creating multipurpose pieces that are designed to be both kinder to the planet, but also perform in different environments and for different workouts”.