Inside Taqwa Bint Ali's Genderless Adidas Sneaker Collaboration
Collaborating with an internationally-recognised sportswear label is a chance to share your ethos with the world. Taqwa Bint Ali isn't wasting her chance.
The French-Tunisian multi-hyphenate is utilising her partnership with Adidas to raise awareness about her modest fashion platform, Galeries Zarafet and the western Muslim creative scene as a whole.
Like that isn't enough, she's also challenging gender conventions.
Genuinely great products support the trailblazer's efforts: reimagined versions of the AdiStar and the Megaride, two popular silhouettes from the 2000s.
The Taqwa Bint Ali x Adidas AdiStar Pose takes ballet as its inspiration, a stimulus that manifests in the open-top (as in, sans tongue) re-work of the upper of the noughties AdiStar silhouette.
Consider it an foolproof way to start incorporating the pointe shoe movement into your everyday wardrobe, not to mention, a chic way to rock a silhouette Pharrell is set to energise this year. (See: the musician-cum-designer's mammoth AdiStar Cushion, recently confirmed to launch in the coming months.)
The hijabi businesswoman/designer/director/model also makes another gender-blur trend feel accessible: the Mary Jane. To manage this, she has taken the Megaride football model and replaced the lacing system with a single strap. The design is inspired by the street style of her famously forward-thinking hometown, Paris.
Both shoes arrive in a single colourway, “iron metallic”, chosen by Bint Ali for its “timeless elegance and contemporary edge”, she tells me over email, and are available in sizes up to a UK 13.5.
“While the campaign focuses on women, celebrating a women's inner strength, these designs are for anyone who resonates with their aesthetic and functionality,” she adds.
“It’s amazing to see how each of [my friends and family members] styles the pieces in their own way.”
The Taqwa Bint Ali x Adidas Adistar Pose is available on End.com for £100 and the Megaride Mary Jane is available on Adidas.com for £170.
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