Quote’s Archive brings together two dedicated adidas collectors and marries an in-depth knowledge and passion for classic adidas footwear with highly distinctive illustration.

Freelance illustrator Peter O’Toole and renowned adidas collector Quote first became aware of each other circa 2005 on the Crooked Tongues forum, where information was traded between some of the world’s most knowledgeable footwear fanatics. In January 2011 O’Toole brought his two passions together with his ‘City Series’ prints, illustrating almost 200 vintage adidas trainers over two posters and capturing Quote’s imagination in the process. The third poster became O’Toole and Quote’s first collaboration, an illustration of 98 pairs selected by Quote from his own collection. It wasn’t long before adidas invited the pair to develop the project further, into a limited edition book.

Selecting 50 shoes from the original print, O’Toole and Quote worked together across Berlin and the UK without meeting each other in person until after the project was complete. Whilst O’Toole developed his illustrations, Quote wrote about each shoe, pulling together history and facts about design and materials with personal anecdotes and associations, providing a window into his journey as a collector.
As the book project drew to a close, Quote and O’Toole were rewarded with a dream-come-true moment, a visit to the adidas archive in Herzogenaurach and the opportunity to design a shoe to accompany the book. The ZX 420 was an easy choice of model for both O’Toole and Quote. Using the adidas ‘Denver’ as inspiration for the vintage feel colourway, the Quotoole is a fitting representation of the work and passion of both collaborators.

The Book as well as the shoe will be pre-released at No74 Berlin on October 25th.