Chicago native Joe “Freshgoods Robinson paid a visit to Sockjig Sneaker Podcast where he provided some details on a collaboration with Adidas that never came to fruition. While some of the apparel was released, Robinson designed three silhouettes and only two made it to the sample stage and none were ever produced.
In the exchange, Robinson said he signed a contract with Adidas in July 2018, noting he was working at the time with Nike as well, but the relationship wasn’t exclusive. Robinson viewed the deal as problematic from the jump becuse he was new to the game and signed the contract in a hotel lobby without receiving any legal advice, “I take a little blame for part of that because I signed the deal without a laywer. Where I come from, West side of Chicago, just in Chicago in general, I never thought I’d be able to have a sneaker with my name on it. That wasn’t a thing I grew up knowing was even possible.”
Describing Adidas as a “big record label” with a crowded roster of “heavy hitters” who at the time included Kanye West, Beyoncé, Pusha T and Pharrell Williams, Robinson said the brand repeatedly pushed out the timeline for the three shoes he designed. At the same time, the brand randomly dropped an apparel collab featuring Derrick Rose that showed up on the brand’s website without any reference to him. “They simply mishandled my project and they know that,” said Robinson.
When Robinson’s contract with Adidas ended without fanfare, he signed with New Balance, a deal whose seeds were planted at ComplexCon Chicago in 2019 where his team manned three booths.
He made his debut with New Balance at the 2020 NBA All-Star Game in Chicago where he turned heads with his take on the brand’s 992 silhouette, along with an OMN1S basketball sneaker designed for NBA player Kawhi Leonard who is signed with the Los Angeles Clippers.
While Robinson received a cease and desist from Adidas in November of 2022 for a velvet tracksuit, which the brand alleged featured a Three Stripe logo, he said he views his beef with Adidas as in the tail lights because the brand not only provided him with a kill fee for ending the deal without fulfilling the terms of the contract, but also gifted him the apparel that was produced but never sold,
Robinson and his team sold the Adidas product at a one day sale in Chicago in September 2020. Proceeds were donated to Community Goods, his education-themed non-profit. “They gave me that shit for free and I used that for my non-profit and raised funds,” explained Joe. Pieces from the four-piece collection are currenty available on eBay.
Check out the exchange on Spotify below and on all streaming platforms.
