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words // Nick DePaula:
While other brands have closely followed a focus on sport at all costs, much of adidas’ emergence over the last few years can mostly be credited to its understanding and embrace of the intersections between pop culture, athletics, music, fashion and creativity.
Several of the most sought after adidas products during that period of momentum weren’t your traditional signature basketball models that have long led the industry, but rather more limited capsule collections built together in conjunction with respected creatives from around the world.
At the helm of managing those partnerships over the past few years is Rachel Muscat. In her role as Global Director of Icon Collaborations since 2009, Muscat has led the process with partners like Jeremy Scott, Mary Katrantzou, Palace Skateboards, Pharrell Williams, and perhaps most notably, Kanye West.
More recently, she was named Global Category Director of the newly formed YEEZY category at adidas, relocating to the brand’s Portland, Oregon “Village” headquarters and leading a team of nearly twenty as they shape the foundation of YEEZY footwear and apparel items going forward.
Muscat recently spoke with Broadsheet.com, a Melbourne-based lifestyle and fashion magazine from her native Australia, discussing her favorite projects to date and the creative process with some of the industry’s most revered designers. Read ahead for an excerpt of her thoughts on the brand’s most coveted collections, as we continue to highlight impactful women across the industry to celebrate International Women’s Day.
Broadsheet: What does being Adidas’s global director of collaborations involve on a day-to-day basis?
Right now my two main collaborations are with Pharrell Williams and Kanye West, so it’s really looking at what our key priorities that day or week are – a fashion show coming up, or a sample round you need to see, a meeting you need to plan with management and the collaborator, factories, and then the sales strategies, what city to launch our collections.
Broadsheet: What’s your way of keeping up with an ever-changing street and youth culture?
I travel a lot with my job so I really make an effort to meet up with friends in different cities, and to take in all of what’s happening. It’s not just about the catwalks. It’s a mix of friendships, going to museums, seeing art, being surrounded by the new generation coming up. I’m a real part of skateboarding culture and I love seeing what those guys do because they’re so authentic.
Broadsheet: Do you have an outstanding career moment so far?
Definitely when we launched Yeezy Season 1 and a month later we had Pharrell’s 50-colour Superstar campaign. It was one of those moments where all of this hard work really paid off. The Supercolor campaign was one of our fastest projects. In general, we work on an eight-to-12-month calendar, but that probably took three-to-six months to bring the idea to life with products and samples.
Broadsheet: What’s Kanye like as a collaborator?
Kanye is a creative genius. I have so much respect for his vision and what he’s brought to life. He’s one of the hardest working people I know. He cares about every detail … which is really inspiring.
Be sure to read the full interview with Rachel Muscat at Broadsheet.com.
