AVAVAV AND ADIDAS LAUNCH MAY 22. THE CLOTHES LOOK BROKEN ON PURPOSE.

Seven photographs. Still life. Shot by Lennert Madou against backgrounds that look like remnants of something that was once organized. The launch is May 22 on the CONFIRMED app and adidas.com. What Adidas Originals and Avavav built for SS26 is not a reinvention. That is the brand''s line and it is also accurate. After three seasons of building a shared language around anatomical distortion and sculptural construction, SS26 is that language applied further. ## The Superstar Arrives Deconstructed and in Pony Hair Two Superstar variants. The Deconstructed Superstar has a soft, collapsible leather upper. The silhouette is recognizable. The toe cap is Avavav''s signature sculptural form. The upper, however, has no structure. It collapses at the ankle when you put it on. This is not a quality failure. It is the specification. The Shaved Pony Superstar uses a faux pony-hair upper in the same sculptural form. The material choice is deliberate: pony hair reads as both referencing and parodying luxury material conventions. On a Superstar, which is one of the most democratic silhouettes in the Adidas archive, the material creates a contradiction that is the point of the shoe. [Wales Bonner put Yohji Yamamoto in conversation with Grace Jones through Y-3](/quick/wales-bonner-y3-adidas-first-collaboration-field-lizzard-tokyo-takashi-homma-may-2026-p5w8n3kt). That was one designer using the Adidas infrastructure to create a cultural dialogue between two historical references. The Avavav collaboration is different in that it uses the Adidas infrastructure to create a dialogue between the Adidas archive and the proposition that a silhouette can be taken apart and still function. ## The Megaride Returns Stripped Back The Avavav Megaride, introduced in a previous season in a higher-production version, returns in SS26 in canvas and suede iterations with windowed mesh uppers. The mesh window is cut to resemble anatomical forms, which the brand describes as nodding to Avavav''s signature cut-out caging. The canvas version of the Megaride reads differently than the original. Less engineered. More raw. The choice to release a stripped-back iteration of a signature shoe in the same season as more technically complex pieces suggests that Beate Skonare Karlsson is working across a range of intensity rather than building toward a single statement. ## The Largest Bag in the Partnership to Date The SS26 accessories include a sculpted leather sports bag, described as the largest version produced within this collaboration. The bag is not functional in the way that most sports bags are functional. It is sculptural, meaning the form is prioritized over the utility ratio. You could carry things in it. That is not why you would buy it. The pricing on the collection will be available May 22. Based on previous Avavav releases, expect the footwear to land between $180 and $350 and the bag to exceed that range. ## Lennert Madou Shot It Still The campaign was shot by Lennert Madou, whose practice spans fashion and fine art photography with a consistent preference for still compositions and environments that carry ambiguity. The decision to shoot the collection as still life rather than on models is consistent with how Avavav has presented its work from the beginning: the object is the character. [Adidas Originals previously ran the Sound On campaign](/quick/adidas-originals-sound-on-yougotthis-reels-campaign-may-2026-f7k2n9rq) through short-form video content designed to communicate energy and street credibility. The Avavav content is its opposite: slow, considered, and entirely about form. Both use the Originals brand. Neither is wrong. ## May 22. CONFIRMED App. Not a Raffle. Temperature: right on time. The Avavav collaboration has been building a specific audience across three seasons: people who want Adidas without the athlete endorsement context, and people who want Avavav without the runway price point. SS26 is the most developed version of that offer to date. The Deconstructed Superstar in particular is a shoe that requires a specific level of prior knowledge to understand why the collapsing upper is a feature. That is a filter. The people who buy it already know.