BOBBY GILLESPIE (PRIMAL SCREAM)
At the end of the day, as with a lot of creative perspectives, a lot of it comes down to adolescent nostalgia. Aspden, like so many of his peers, grew up with adidas as opposed to competing brands like Nike and Reebok. The images that Aspden, together with legendary Mancunian photographer Kevin Cummins, created for Spezial’s debut season – some of which are exclusively premiered in this issue – very much prove that point. The personalities used for the campaign are not freckly teenage models without any cultural reference points. Indeed, many of the musicians, actors and athletes called upon by Aspden for Spezial duty represent the same values we associate with adidas: quality, durability, credibility, attitude and diversity. Signing up Don Letts, Bobby Gillespie and Stephen Graham, to mention but a few, is not only a marketing coup
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but a statement of intent for Spezial. “I’ve known Kevin for many years and when I told him what I was doing, he offered to photograph it as he thought it would be good to work together on something. It was a simple conversation and a handshake I guess. The casting was based on people who I personally respect, am a fan of, and have longterm relationships with.” Interestingly, with a lot of focus from both adidas and similar brands on the youth market, it’s worth noting that the average age in Aspden and Cummins’ project is well above other, similar projects in the current climate. “Yes, it’s fair to say that much of what adidas Originals has been doing of late is aimed at teenagers and I felt that, due to the nature of the products and the potential audience, I had an opportunity to push the boundaries beyond that in terms of who we shot.”