Last year, adidas Originals and Brain Dead came together to debut a collaborative take on the iconic Stan Smith sneaker. This season, the Los Angeles-based brand returns with a Spring/Summer 2025 collection that brings a fresh perspective to the legacy of the adidas Forest Hills.
Rather than leaning on the traditional aesthetics tied to the sport of tennis, the collection challenges the conventional look-and-feel typically associated with tennis country club culture.
Originally launched in 1976, the adidas Forest Hills was engineered to be the lightest tennis shoe of its time. Weighing just 8.7 ounces and featuring a ventilation system inspired by aerospace engineering, the silhouette became a hallmark of performance and innovation — later finding its way into global style movement
Now, Brain Dead and adidas Originals offer a new expression of the court classic. Featuring a hairy suede upper, leather stripes, and co-branded accents, each pair reimagines the heritage design in bold, two-tone colorways grounded in earth tones with contrasting details. The apparel collection follows suit, reframing tennis style through Brain Dead’s offbeat lens. Merging sport, and artistic energy, the lineup includes hand-drawn graphics across track tops, crewnecks, and t-shirts, while polos, shorts, and track pants play with classic silhouettes and natural tones to deliver something both wearable and unexpected.
The adidas Originals x Brain Dead SS25 collection will be available on 25th April 2025 at adidas.co.za, Sandton Halo, V&A Waterfront and Gateway stores.