I love brands. To me, they are modern art. I have carried out countless studies that massively contribute to the success of many major brands by changing their positioning or promotional strategy.
Normally, brands are created behind the desks of strategists and creative. And in a time of banality, achieving a successful brand is truly an art. The studies we have carried out in Izmałkowa Consulting show that you need a lot of determination and cohesion to survive in the world of brands. To me, the most phenominal brands are an expression of the talent and vision of the person who created it. That’s why I like brands out of respect to the talent of those who are skilled at telling stories and out of love for my own expression.
Yellow sweatshirt – 2 seasons of travelling; Brazil, Patagonia, Uruguay, Argentina, Antarctica, Venezuela, Colombia and France.
I’m often asked which brands I like. The truth is that “I like” doesn’t mean “I know”. And “I appreciate it” often means “I have lots of it”, because sometimes I just like beautiful stories – and a brand is nothing more than a story. A fashion blogger recently asked me which brand I buy the most often. I listed them. And then I looked into my wardrobe (being a seasoned researcher) in order to check whether I told the truth. It turned out that I didn’t have three of the brands that I listed in my wardrobe at all. Like my assistant, Marta, used to say: “I like broccoli, but not enough to eat it.” I think that’s how I am with brands – I like them, but not enough to buy them. Two of them I haven’t worn for years. I’m sure I will someday, but not now. I like the concept behind them, but right now they’re not who I am, so they have to wait for their turn. One of the brands that I mentioned totally dominanted my wardrobe. And I noticed it only because the said blogger pointed out an inconsistency in what I said.
– You said you don’t like sports brands, so why do you love Adidas?
– I don’t love Adidas. I love Adidas Originals and that’s something totally different.
Adidas Originals is a fashion brand, not a sports brand. Well, ok, I wouldn’t wear it at a wedding, but I still don’t consider it a sports brand. Yes, that’s true – I love Adidas Originals. They take up about 1/3 of my suitcase that I use for several months on my long voyage every year. There are things that I always keep around (like my favourite FARM sweatshirt). If my reasons for loving this brand won’t convince you – then a 50% discount might.
1. It’s just like me
I have a feeling that the person designing these clothes has me in mind. I don’t know if they make them for me, but surely they saw me and wanted to dress me very much.
That’s why I often have the feeling that these clothes are named Julia. I often manage to convince others that they are. The whole collection created in collaboration with FARM reminds all of my friends only of me. When I went to Brazil the first store I wanted to visit (and the only one – shopping is not recommended at the beginning of a voyage) was FARM. I was like my first collection of Adidas – FARM – extremely colourful and original. It was the first thing that I bought from Adidas Originals and that’s how that love started. A small Brazilian brand infected me with love towards a global giant. And the giant acquainted me with the most colourful and relaxed Brazilian brand.
2. It keeps a tight rein on me
I know exactly what it is and what it’s going to offer me. It has its own personality. It’s both recognizable and private to me at the same time – I love it that I never feel corny when wearing this brand. It gives me a feeling of security, especially taking into account my non-standard preferences. It’s quite funny in the context of the fact that it was (and maybe still is?) the most chavish brand. Also in the Soviet Union where I grew up. But have worn a collection of Originals not only on a stage during presentation, but also at parties, receptions or once at a dinner with the very conservative parents of my friends. And the reaction is always the same – people see me, not the brand. Hearing a comment like: “You look good in that Adidas jacket” is similar to hearing that I have a nice makeup. It’s not the jacket or makeup that is supposed to be pretty, but ME. That’s why I have the feeling that my colourful Adidas is colourful enough to go well with me and decent enough not to shock. I understand that and I asked about it in the researchers’ room – they understand that too.
Gizel – 3 seasons of travelling: USA, Venezuela, Patagonia, Antarctica, Brazil, Uruguay, Israel, Colombia, Panama, Trinidad and Tobago – worn basically every day except for days when it drying after being washed. I have it on me right now.
3. It’s well known what Adidas is not
On the website of Adidas I don’t check any brands other than Originals (well, ok, sometimes I check Stella). It’s known that Originals does not make sports-oriented or even pseudo-sports-oriented things. You are not supposed to beat Guinness records, or even your own records, in these clothes. You are supposed to look like an active person who has an opinion of their own, speaks their mind out loud and has the courage to look in the eyes of Serena Williams without asking her for an autograph while doing that. I love beautiful things and beautiful style of life. That why to me Originals is not about the brand but about style – and because of that it doesn’t include a logo in every possible place. I hate that, I don’t understand why brands do that and I don’t get it when someone wears it. Once I made a mistake and bought something with a large logo. For reasons that have remained unknown to me I didn’t notice it. As a result, I wore that sweatshirt only for running, because I don’t consider myself a billboard and, besides, you pay for using a billboard (and not the other way round), so a logo needs to know its place and size.
4 . It’s a colourful brand
That’s the most important reason for me. It started with FARM – the Gizel collection – a great love of mine. Once, someone accidentally took my sweatshirt from a beach. I was despairing for hours and trying to order a new one online from anywhere in the world (I couldn’t find it). Fortunately it was returned to me along with my peace of mind smile emoticon. I bought several pieces of clothing from Rita Ora’s collection – scandalously too many, but I couldn’t help myself buying – except anything for her sad black and red collections. The thing that proves that it’s not only me who finds these collections a failure is the fact that they are the first that are put on sale and the last that actually get sold.
My collection of trousers from Rita Ora are with me during my travels, I wear them to clubs, parties and receptions – depending on whether I’m wearing sneakers or high heels. They’re a great love of mine.
5. It’s a durable brand
I’m unable to wear clothes properly. I don’t care about them – they are things that are for me, I’m not for them. So the fact that a sweatshirt can survive two voyages of mine is astounding! After 5 months of wearing it every day (since I had nothing else with me) it was already waiting for the next voyage – that deserves respect! After the third voyage I can’t say that it looks as if I just bought it, but I’ll definitely take with me for the fourth one. And between voyages I wear this sweatshirt as well – when I stay at home for too long it reminds me that there is another beautiful world beyond Europe.
This shirt is the greatest hero – it went missing in a Chinese laundry in Trinidad frown emoticon. It was with me for 4 seasons during absolutely all of my travels – Uruguay, Venezuela, Brazil, Argentina, France, Israel, Panama, Columbia, Trinidad and Tobago.
6. I love it that Adidas releases small collecions
Thanks to this the only ones wearing their clothes is me and a few people that I don’t know. Frankly speaking, other than sneakers and leggings, I haven’t seen anyone else wearing what I’m wearing. I hate it when somebody wears the same thing that I do. I hate the “what’s that?” question (which I often ask others – the evil me!), because I don’t want to tell what it is for a simple reason – I don’t want anyone else to have the same thing. I never have that problem with Adidas. I can boldly tell everyone where I got it from because in most cases by that time it’s already unavailable. I was hunting for Jeremy Scott’s shoes. I visited the website of Adidas an hour after they appeared – there was only one pair in each size (except of mine) available. And I wanted to have them so badly. Two days later I received a notification that someone returned the pair they bought – and voila! I made it! The only pair in the size 37 was mine!
7. Adidas is bold
The shoes of Jeremy Scott that I mentioned are controversial (to say the least). They are yellow-green-pink and, additionally, dotted smile emoticon. It was a love at first sight for me. But for most people it’s a shock at first sight. However, my love is resilient and indomitable – it can’t be destroyed by any disapproving look or a comment such as: “Nice, but why does it have to be pink? Have you bought them in the section for children?” I wear them proud and they make me happy everytime I look at them. I feel the same with several things from Rita Ora. The trousers with see-through net on the sides constantly accumulate comments such as: “What is that? Really, what is that?!” Well, that’s me! After such comments I sometimes wonder whether I didn’t go too far. But, honestly, with Adidas that doesn’t happen – maybe because of reason no. 1 – their name’s Julia – and, besides, I’m not going to waste time wondering whether I went too far or not.
8. It’s a brand that saves time
I love shopping, but I hate doing it. I don’t like shopping malls and large stores. I want to shop easily, quickly and pleasantly. I want things to be exactly the way I want them. I don’t want a huge selection and frequent collection changes. It’s best when I know in advance what and when is going to appear. I love that Adidas’s store is like marketing segmentation – you know what is where, how to find it and how to discard what I don’t need. Unfortunately, that makes me treat shopping like buying ice cream when I’m in bad mood – it takes me less time than going out and bringing ice cream home.
9. Adidas makes surprises
Every time that I think that it can’t be any better, after an hour there appears the Red Dragon series and I think: “Wow! How imaginative! What a combination of colours!” How can anything be so coherent and surprising at the same time? Or maybe that’s exactly what characterizes a good brand? This is not a sponsored article, it comes out of love. I felt the need to share what I like, because my clothes and being myself, that is, boldly colourful, is often a distinguishing feature of mine and that brand significantly contributes to it.
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