adidas remembers Bob Marley

A tribute to Jamaica’s musical legend.

This season, the three stripes giant has decided to bring together two worlds that, in reality, have never been separate: football and music. Or, more specifically, football and Bob Marley, the Jamaican icon whose life, style and message are still present in popular culture.

Through eight pieces of off-pitch apparel, an investigative exercise is proposed by The Bob Marley Foundation, which opened its archives to adidas with unpublished photographs, original garments and direct references to the artist’s life. Among them, a particularly symbolic detail was found: the lilac Firebird trousers that Marley wore during his European tour, which are now reinterpreted within the collection.

If we had to sum up the collection in one phrase, it would be “Football is Freedom”. This mantra appears in some of the key designs, such as the golden yellow T-shirt and the zip-up jacket, and reflects Marley‘s almost spiritual relationship with the beautiful game, which he played obsessively during his tours and understood as a universal language capable of breaking down social, cultural and political barriers.

This message is visually translated through a repetitive wave pattern that runs through many of the garments. A graphic that symbolises the rhythm of his music and the constant pulse of Jamaica, serving as the common thread throughout the collection, where there is a single shared code: the adidas Originals trefoil located opposite the word “Bob”.

‘Bob Marley’s legacy is full of inspiration, but to bring it to life through this collection, we worked with old photographs and garments from his touring days alongside The Bob Marley Foundation. It was an incredible privilege and ultimately inspired us to create a line that celebrates his music, his love of football and the spirit of Jamaica,’ says Sam Handy, CM at adidas Football.

The adidas x Bob Marley collection is now available at adidas.co.uk.