Denim Tears x adidas Originals is official, and the first images are in. In the first Denim Tears x adidas collab, the Superstar and the Stan Smith get a checked print you'll recognise right away: the one from the Ghana Must Go bag. The release is expected in November.
It's the first time Tremaine Emory's label has worked with adidas. Emory, born in Atlanta and raised in Queens, founded Denim Tears in 2019. He calls it "African American sportswear": clothing that tells stories from Black American history and the African diaspora.
The best-known example is the Cotton Wreath, a wreath of cotton blossoms that refers to the cotton enslaved Africans were forced to pick in the United States. The print, first used on Levi's jeans, has become one of the most recognisable motifs in streetwear. It shows up in this campaign too, on the models' trousers.
Emory is no stranger to sneakers. In 2020 he released a Chuck 70 with Converse, inspired by Marcus Garvey and the Pan-African colours. In 2021 the GEL-MC Plus with ASICS followed. Denim Tears has also worked with names like Stüssy, Dior and UGG, and Emory spent a year and a half as creative director at Supreme.
This autumn he's in the spotlight in the art world as well. The SCAD Museum of Art in Savannah is showing a retrospective of his work until 11 January 2027, hanging Denim Tears pieces alongside artists such as Jacob Lawrence and Faith Ringgold.
This time, everything revolves around an everyday object. The Ghana Must Go bag is a large woven polypropylene carryall you'll see all over West Africa and across diaspora communities. The name dates back to 1983, when Nigeria expelled large numbers of Ghanaian migrants, many of whom carried their belongings in these bags.
Outside Africa the same bag goes by dozens of other names, from Chinatown bag to Türkenkoffer in Germany. In an interview, Emory describes the check as a cultural motif of the diaspora where African and Asian history meet. The campaign leans into that: the photos were shot around Canal Street in New York's Chinatown, where the bags hang in every shop. Fashion picked up the pattern long ago too, with luxury versions from the likes of Louis Vuitton and Balenciaga.
A shell toe with a woven check
The Superstar shows most clearly how the print is used. The shell toe and midsole are cream, while the rest of the upper has a white base with stripes in black, red and blue, just like the bag. The Three Stripes come in a black-and-white two-tone, and the laces and sockliner are cream as well.
The Stan Smith gets the same check across the entire upper. In the campaign images, the green heel tab stands out, the model's classic detail, paired with cream laces and a cream sole. That keeps the tennis shoe recognisable, even fully wrapped in the bag pattern.
These are the Superstar 82 and the Stan Smith 80, versions that stay close to the original build of both models. According to earlier leaks, they carry the style codes LN3808 and LN3810. Release platforms list the Superstar's colorway as Cream White/Easy Yellow/Cream White.
The choice of these two models makes sense. The Superstar with its rubber shell toe arrived in the late sixties as a basketball shoe and later became a fixture in hip-hop. The Stan Smith started out as a tennis shoe and has carried the American tennis player's name since the seventies.
The packaging gets the treatment too. The blue shoebox features Three Stripes in the same checked pattern, with Denim Tears branding alongside.
Release info
adidas has now shared official campaign images of both models, and a street-level pop-up has already run in New York. The Denim Tears x adidas sneakers are expected to drop in November 2026.
The first drop is reported to take place exclusively at African Diaspora Goods, the store in New York's SoHo neighbourhood. A release in Europe hasn't been announced yet, and the retail price in euros hasn't been confirmed either. Earlier reports mentioned sales through Denim Tears, adidas and select retailers, but that isn't official yet.
Want to check out the model already? The adidas Superstar page at adidas shows the current versions. You'll find more of the brand's models on our adidas page.
As soon as the release date and price of Denim Tears x adidas are known, you'll read it here.
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