Prague shoe store will launch limited-edition Adidas sneakers with traditional Czech blueprint pattern

A Prague shoe shop will have a rare opportunity to issue a limited edition Adidas sneaker. Footshop, on the trendy shopping street Na Příkopě, will sell a limited edition of 520 pairs customized with a traditional blueprinting technique.

German brand Adidas first introduced their Superstar sneaker 50 years ago, and Footshop will be the first store in Central Europe to be allowed to make a limited edition. The sneakers will become available October 10, but the people who will be able to buy them have to participate in a drawing.

“This collaboration is one of the biggest milestones we have been able to reach. Few sneaker stores can do this within 10 years of its establishment. We are very proud that that Adidas decided to create a joint work with us, moreover on such an iconic model,” Footshop owner Peter Hajduček said in a press release.

The Footshop x adidas Superstar ‘Blueprinting’ sneaker is inspired by traditional patterns that were used for local festive costumes. Blueprinting, or “modrotisk,” is a 300-year-old textile dying process that was added to the list of intangible world heritage by UNESCO in November 2018, based on a joint nomination by the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Austria, Germany and Hungary.

To further customize the Footshop special edition, it was adapted for hiking, which is a popular pastime in the Czech Republic. There is a wool track sole and metal D-rings for the laces. Each of the 520 pairs is numbered.

The collaboration on the model began in 2018.

“I am very happy that our collaboration will see the light of day after two years. It was mainly about showing the solid foundations of our cooperation with Adidas," Footshop product manager Peter Kováč said.

"That is why we use the classic [sneaker] silhouette in conjunction with the traditional blueprint technique, which is significant for all countries where our stores are located. The reference to tradition on a modern scale helps us to create a solid basis for communication and thus shows the classic technique in a non-traditional process.”

Hajduček said that the criteria for cooperation is not strictly outlined, but having a shop on Na Příkopě sttreet, the main fashion retail street in Prague, certainly helped.

The blueprinting process starts with a white fabric that is decorated with a pattern using a green emulsion. The fabric is then dyed five times in vats of indigo. The green emulsion is removed by washing, leaving behind a white pattern on a dark blue cloth. It is washed several times to keep the dye from running. Wooden stamps or rollers used to be used to make the pattern, but now silkscreening is more common.

The Footshop shoe store chain opened its first store in 2014 and has grown by four more outlets in the following years.