Gucci x adidas Pop-up Experience

When Gucci presented a series of co-branded garments and accessories in collaboration with adidas as part of its adidas x Gucci runway collection, it caused a sensation. Here are two global brands: one at the upper tier of luxury, known for its Italian-made leathergoods and embellishment-heavy clothing; the other, a sportswear giant like no other, its wares worn on and off the court by athletes and sneakerheads alike. At its heart, this collaboration is about joy – of mashing up fiercely protected house codes to create something new and dynamic for today’s hungry-for-newness shoppers – and of finding inspiration in the unexpected.

With the brief of creating an immersive experience in a high-footfall location that would capture the attention of Australian audiences, tell the story of the Gucci x adidas collaboration, and direct shoppers to the month-long pop-up store, Semi Permanent conceived and produced a unique piece of interactive architecture in Sydney’s bustling Pitt Street Mall.

To evoke the nostalgia of a retro sports club, we rendered a glass cube in the Gucci x adidas ‘Palm Print’, covering its translucent walls and floor in the purple, gold and aqua motif so as to create a dizzying and highly-Instagrammable experience from both the inside and for passers-by in the surrounding precinct.

A series of bespoke table tennis equipment was made; including takeaway rackets and two tables which formed the centrepiece of the space, and drove audience retention with guests who were welcomed to take part in a fun game. A digital scoreboard playfully kept score between home (Gucci) and away (adidas), while the placement of additional digital screens on the cube’s retail-fronting façade showcased the hero campaign video to contextualise the structure. A Gucci x adidas-branded running track ran from either entrance, applied to the stone flooring of the open-air mall environment and invited people into the space.

Across its five-day run period, the Gucci x adidas cube was open to the public during each day and was additionally a hero venue for the media and influencer launch events of the retail pop-up, which sat parallel to the physical structure. However, through the use of translucent printing, the structure continued to engage audiences even after dark, the space lit up within Pitt Street Mall as a shining beacon of the two brands’ epic takeover of the busy commercial precinct.