Putting two icons in a blender doesn’t always guarantee to be a delicious mix. Thankfully when creative company Neely and Daughters were invited to smash the Adidas and Roland brands head on to create a three stripe 808 trainer (sorry main geo-demographic — I simply cannot and will not say sneaker), the result was the “Just For Kicks” footwear/drum machine hybrid.

But before you all lose your minds and waste your lives trying to hunt them down online, they were allegedly only ever prototypes, with a limited degree of actual drum machine functionality. However, given that the only images of a pair looks like a mirrored comp, and the soles on the hero shot don’t even match, my inkling is that this whole project existed in Photoshop only.

This project does remind me of the Serato DJ/Nike and Converse/Technics customs created by Revive Designs. If these Roland/Adidas mashups ever made it to even a limited run (ideally without the alleged functionality), I’d probably snag a pair and put them on display. They are a blend of a couple of my favourite brands that have played a big part in shaping who I am, and would look great on a shelf, but not on my feet. Dancing and knocking out an 808 beat at the same time would make a great video though.

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