Pharrell Williams is one busy man. While preparing to present his debut collection for Louis Vuitton menswear in June (in Paris), he’s also found the time to work on his upcoming album, Phriends (recorded remotely); organise and perform at his annual music festival, Something in the Water (in Virginia Beach); collaborate with Moncler on an AW23 collection (unveiled in London); act as chief brand officer of NFT outfit Doodles (based in Vancouver); build up his wellness label, Humanrace (established in LA); oversee happenings at his hotel, The Goodtime Hotel (located in Miami); and nurture Rocket and the triplets (not a band, but his children, also located in Miami) alongside wife Helen Lasichanh.
On top of all this, he's somehow managed to make room for his Adidas line – now in its ninth year – which is about to drop its strongest collection to date: the Humanrace Samba Colours collection.
The vibrant project – pre-released at his aforementioned music festival held last weekend – sees the multi-hyphenate intermix the magic of his seminal Superstar Supercolour pack (2015) with the A1 quality and craftsmanship of his recent launches, like the Humanrace x Adidas Samba ‘black’ (2022) and the Humanrace x Adidas NMD S1 ‘mahbs oatmeal’ (2023), to produce nine special-edition Samba sneakers.
He deviates from the standard Samba blueprint by swapping out the suede toe cap for a premium leather, and the cotton laces for leather laces created from ECCO leather, resulting in an all-leather upper. Additionally, he extends the tongue (which comes label-less, yet debossed with the Adidas Originals trefoil logo), nodding to the shoe’s original footballing form.
Each iteration is identical in all aspects, save the colour that engulfs every inch of the design.
The first drop of the Humanrace Samba Colours collection – comprising the red, yellow, pink, purple and orange colourways – is launching on Adidas Confirmed and at Offspring London on Saturday 6 May 2023.
The charcoal, white and terracotta colourways will be released at a later date, while the green colourway is exclusively available to Pharrell's friends and family.
Each trainer is priced at £170.
