KoRn’s Always Loved Adidas
The legendary band's subversive adoption of adidas three-stripe tracksuits and trefoil-printed sportswear, inspired by the B-boys in NYC and rap-rock pioneers Run-DMC, introduced a new rockstar look that defied what had previously become synonymous with the genre much like their wholly original sound. It was a departure from the mangled leather and distressed denim that dominated the scene.
The band's refusal to conform to prevailing fashion norms spurred others to embrace a similar sportswear aesthetic, bands like Limp Bizkit, Slipknot, and Linkin Park, who occasionally incorporated sportswear elements into their stage attire, press tours, and music videos. Back then, as young guys coming up, founders Jonathan Davis, James “Munky” Schaffer, and Brian “Head” Welch found it annoying that others copied their style. Davis went as far as customizing his own adidas apparel to ensure nobody else could ever wear the same thing. Now, settling into the legacy they’ve forged, they find it flattering. They see it as a signifier of the enduring impact they’ve had on the genre and the era as a whole.
The band’s connection to adidas runs deep, dating back to their sophomore album, Life Is Peachy, and the 1996 hit “A.D.I.D.A.S.” To Jonathan, wearing the three-stripes was about breaking the mold. It wasn’t over-the-top and it was accessible, enabling fans to take part in the culture as well.
Now, in celebration of their 30th anniversary, KoRn has joined forces with adidas for a special capsule collection encapsulating the generations of fans that continue to find inspiration in the band’s fashion as much as its distorted drop-tuned guitar riffs with aggressive grooves, percussive basslines, and frenetic vocals. The collaboration includes two pairs of sneakers — the Campus 00s and Supermodified — transformed with classic iconography, as well as seven pieces of apparel: a black and white KoRn logo hoodie, two T-shirts, one black and white tracksuit, and one purple tracksuit with sequined trousers similar to the one Jonathan customized and wore in the music video for “A.D.I.D.A.S.”
To kick off the launch, KoRn took over the adidas Originals Melrose store location to showcase the new collection alongside Davis’ OG designs — including his purple sequin adidas tracksuit and fur-collared black track jacket — original gear, and other treasured memorabilia. While there, office caught up with Jonathan, “Munky,” and “Head” to reflect on the early years of KoRn, the pursuit of transgressive originality, and a collaboration years in the making that couldn’t have come at a better moment.
Walk me through the year you dropped your first album, Korn. What drew you to wearing adidas initially?
Jonathan Davis— Originally it was just because of the old hip-hop stuff and B-boy stuff. The biggest one was Run DMC wearing it, that’s when we really found out. We all listened to all kinds of different music, we were all around a lot of different street cultures, and we all wore shelltoes. That was our thing, all of us had shelltoes. That kinda just started it off as we were coming up as a band. There’s a time when you figure out where you’re going and what you’re doing and we kind of figured it out during the first KoRn cycle of the first record and then it really came into full circle and we kind of locked in and found out that we really wanted to do this with Life is Peachy.
We dropped the “A.D.I.D.A.S” song and then started fucking with adidas suits, doing all that and it was a big part of what we did. It was like our own little gang. More and more as we played, I could see that more and more people started wearing it.
James “Munky” Shaffer— Fans would wear it, the adidas shirts that they wore, the tracksuits…
Jonathan— … If you could find them because, at that point, they were really hard to find, not very many around. That’s why I have the black, green, purple, and blue tracksuits [gestures at his suits on display]. Those were the ones that were only available if you would go to a thrift store.
Is that when you started customizing them?
Jonathan— Right, yeah. I wanted to have something different from everybody else.
Brian “Head” Welch— We were a band heavy with fashion because we loved it all and nobody was doing it and we didn’t want to be just dirtheads, you know, wearing like black leather and all that.
Munky— Yeah, no, everyone had done that already.
Do you still feel that way now that others have come to appreciate and even adopt your style?
Jonathan— I think it’s awesome.
Munky— Finally, I think we’re old enough now to appreciate it, but back then we were like, “Man!”
People copy your style?
Munky— Yeah, that’s why Jonathan wanted to modify all of his tracksuits because, you know, many other artists or bands in our genre were trying to copy our sound and our look. So they thought, well we can’t copy the sound so much, but at least we can look like them [laughs].
Jonathan— And when you’re young, they piss you off. Now I look back and go, “That’s kind of cool.”
Head— It is really cool now.
Jonathan— If someone gives that much of a fuck to try and bite you it means you’re doing something right.
What have been some of the responses since officially announcing the collaboration?
Jonathan— So positive and everybody wants it.
I’m really rocking with it. The quality also seems great. It’s not just another collab using quickly made fabrics.
Head— Yeah exactly, the weight of it, the feel. It feels like you’re getting something special.
How did adidas approach you for this partnership?
Jonathan— It was Ben and Joe.
Munky— Yeah the two designers, Ben and Joe from the UK. They’re big fans and were trying to get the higher-ups to understand how to engage this big subculture of fans that we inspired to wear adidas for years.
So they called us and they invited us to the campus when we were in Germany on tour. We got a chance to look at the archives.
How long ago was that?
Jonathan— Summer 21… no 22.
Munky— We were there playing Rock am Ring and Rock im Park and the headquarters is very close to where we were. We got a day off so they were like come and this kind of happened very quickly. I remember when we were there, it was so surreal because it was something that we’ve always wanted to do and we’ve knocked on doors and hadn’t really gotten an answer before.
How collaborative was the process?
Jonathan— They presented a lot of stuff to us and we could just say, Hey, tweak it here, do this, do that. It wasn’t just like, Here, take it, this is what we’re doing.
Munky— Right and also having Ben and Joe involved because they’re fans, they already know all of the little details of all the album covers and songs, they funneled that down into a few items that we could include.
How quickly do you anticipate the collection will sell out?
Jonathan— I’d say five to ten days at least.
Did any specific memories come to mind through the design process?
Jonathan— I just remembered how those suits used to rip my stomach up because they were made with no lining.
Munky— So I remember he had a couple of different suits. We were on our first or second tour in the UK, we went on stage and we played, then we went back to the dressing room and someone had come in and stolen one or two of the suits.
Did you ever find out what happened to them?
We got them back.
Jonathan, have you suggested making a kilt?
Jonathan— Yeah we’re working on it. They made me one before, I just can’t find it. That was in like 2005 or something [laughs].
Is there a generation of KoRn fans that you think the collection will most resonate with? You’ve attracted fans across the decades, even a younger crowd now that are paying attention and wearing the style themselves.
Jonathan— I think all of the fans are gonna like it. When I pull up to my kid’s high school, kids are wearing JNCOs and all that shit from the '90s, I’m like…
Head— It’s crazy how things come full circle.
Jonathan— That’s how we all used to dress when we were kids so, you know, I think everyone’s gonna dig it.
As veterans, are there any younger bands that you’ve been keeping your eyes on?
Jonathan— It's a totally different game now. I think we're one of the last relics from that time when rock stars were bigger than life.
What exactly changed?
Munky— Everything’s just consumed so fast. You know, back in our time…
Jonathan— the record holds you over for two years.
Are you working on something for next year? Since your last record Requiem (2022)?
Jonathan— Yeah, hopefully, yeah.
Let’s get into some of your favorite details on the Campus 00s.
Jonathan— I love that the “campus” is in the KoRn font. I love the in-sole and the abbreviated “A.D.I.D.A.S” in the inside-tongue. I couldn’t believe that legal said that was okay. They wouldn’t play that back when we were coming up. My favorite is that they actually put that on the end of the shoe [gestures toward the band’s iconography at the shoe’s heel].
Munky— One of my favorite details that I realized after I put them on is how comfortable. They feel protective.
Jonathan— Back in the day, I had to rip the fucking insoles out of every adidas pair of shoes I owned. They were not comfortable for my feet, some people’s feet were fine. These, I can put them on, they don’t hurt.
Head— The stuff that adidas allowed us to customize just blows our minds, you know.
Head— My favorite part is this [points to the Life is Peachy album cover inside the sole].
People have been saying that this collaboration feels so long in the making, but I don’t know if there was a better time than now for you to have had as much creative freedom as you did.
Jonathan— Right, to legally see it through is amazing. I’m sure we can make it — I’m making shit all the time.
Jonathan— The shoebox is really special. This is a recreation of one of my road cases, a wardrobe case that I kept all my stuff in. I always made them purple so that we could tell which were mine.
Munky— Because all of our cases are all-black.
Jonathan— I was all about purple and prints and the whole nine so there’s all kinds of fun stuff on it.
Munky— This to me is itself a keepsake.
Jonathan— Yeah, for sure. It’s years and years of us, always on the road.
