Back in 2005, END. Clothing opened its High Bridge doors in Newcastle’s city centre, thus welcoming the world into a two-story abode lined with some of the best attire brands had to offer. Not only this, but as the retailer honed its blade in two alien cities, new departments were explored - ultimately earmarking Ashworth and Parker’s brainchild as one of our industry’s big hitters.
After its initial launch in 1984, adidas’ FORUM silhouette sat upon a pedestal as one of the most expensive pairs of its day, boasting an impressive $100 price tag which parted the sea in order for a gruelling journey from court to side-walk to be executed flawlessly.
In line with adidas’ 2020 FORUM resurgence, Newcastle’s END. Clothing opted to keep this collaborative effort clean and SIMPLE. Heritage aside, this re-assigned basketball sneaker plays host to a neutral palette and tribute-ready tri-colour, Three-stripe goodness. Co-branding can be seen throughout, paying particular attention to xxx/300 embossing at the tooling’s rear.
As with all fashion-house collaborations deriving from adidas’ coveted FORUM Low folder of recent months, END. raffled off a meagre 300 individually numbered units. Whilst many would inevitably miss out, it went a long way towards satisfying the inner sneaker-nerd all winners suppress when confronted with family situations.
Most IMPORTANTLY, proceeds from END. x adidas ‘Friends and Forum’ launch were donated to Greenhouse Sports - an organisation providing sports coaches for those from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Their unrivalled work ethic has opened opportunities for over 45,000 youngsters since 2002, working in tandem with Loughborough University whose research proved this organisation’s efforts raise school attendance, levels of positive behaviour and academic performance.
GOOD people, GOOD cause... GOOD sneaker. What isn’t to love?