Adidas is commemorating the 30th birthday of EQUIPMENT.1990, a new decade, new ideologies. After the glamour and glitz of the 1980s, came a period of reflection and free spirit. This manifested in a move away from accepted mainstream values to alternative culture, demonstrated through sport, music, media, art and fashion. For adidas, there was also a period of reflection. The brand continued to be a major supplier to professional athletes and clubs, maintaining a strong presence, particularly in Europe. However, there was a feeling that it had become more reactive than proactive. Nowhere was this more apparent than in America, where adidas had lost its position as market leader in the space of the last decade.

Peter Moore is one of the industry’s most iconic designers. Previously creative director at Nike, he was brought in by adidas in the late ‘80s – just a week after his creative partner, Robert Strasser – to revive the brand. It’s Moore that we have to thank for Equipment’s tight colour palette and visionary technology.

Peter Moore and Robert Strasser were a successful partnership, with a history of creating innovative sportswear and strong advertising campaigns in the US. Strasser was a larger-than-life character, who strode ahead with gusto, pushing ideas forward. Moore was more reserved, but provided the creative spark to make Strasser’s thoughts a reality. A meeting between the pair and then adidas CEO, René C. Jäggi, started a conversation on how the Three Stripes could make a comeback. The brand needed a reboot, could the American duo provide it?

Robert Strasser was Nike’s vice president before he controversially jumped ship to adidas in 1987, where he set about transforming the German brand. Equipment was Strasser’s brainchild – alongside his partner in design, Peter Moore – and although he passed away in 1993, his legacy lives on through what is now known as the adidas Performance line.