Jessica Herman

Banking on the market's obsession with brand names and logos, sportswear lines PUMA (1051 North Rush) and Adidas (923 North Rush) have up and changed their image right on Rush Street. The fashionable retail concept stores both recently opened their doors, practically sharing a wall with Prada and Barneys New York.

PUMA

Like a well-designed art exhibit, the architecture of the PUMA shop mimics the clothing line's style: It's sleek and streamlined in a lanky, two-story space behind impeccably streak-free glass and tucked between stark white walls.

The turntable at the entrance--DJs spin during the weekend's peak hours--alludes to the line's streetwear appeal, and the mannequins who linger by the bottom of the stairs, branded in PUMA head-to-toe, appear more like what you'd expect of a Diesel ad than sportswear: checkered tights, mini skirts, slouchy sling bags and newsboy caps.

The shoe stock--about 200 or so styles--includes everything from wrestling-style booties to Velcro-up knee-highs in anything from loud fluorescent colors to soft hues of blue and gold.

Beyond shoes, though, the shop is worth a trip for the clothing alone. The collection includes a yoga/Pilates line by Christy Turlington, a section of club-appropriate gear in splashes of watermelon pink and metallics and thongs adorned with rainbow-colored rhinestones depicting the signature cat. For men, the clothes stick truer to athletic wear.

Adidas

Housed inside a warehouse-style space with stucco details, silvery grey walls and exposed piping under the high-lofted ceiling, Adidas feels like a nightclub, lit in neon blue from below and behind with soundtracks spilling through the speakers.

The shop, like PUMA, prides itself on store exclusives. Launches for limited-edition shoes, for instance, are sneakerhead magnets; the "consortium series" has had shoppers from across the country and Canada lining up hours before the store opens and buying out its stock in less than two hours. The Superstar 35th anniversary celebrates the shell-toed basketball shoe, with various designs such as the "expression series" featuring designs by artists like Andy Warhol, the "cities series" with symbols like the four-leaf clover plastered across the Boston shoe, and the upcoming "music series."

Besides entirely new designs, Adidas capitalizes on pop culture's affinity for retro styles and the legacy of its own "heritage line" by replaying shoe models from the twenties to the eighties with minor updating. The manager picks up a pair of form-fitting track shoes, flips it over and shows the plastic circular fillings where the cleats would have been. Another pair comes with a sole made of dull yellow rubber used to resemble the way that the material appeared when it aged. Showcasing a kind of footwear hall of fame, pairs of Adidas worn by Muhummad Ali and other sports heroes rest in glass display cases around the room.

The women's wear doesn't stray too far from sporty,: from a short sleeve, bulky cardigan to super-short khaki shorts to a flirty black tennis dress on top of a workout clothing section. The men's selection, however, includes items like leather jackets and janitor-style zip-ups, polo shirts and utility pants.

Look out for upcoming store events: the team is gearing up for parties with break-dancers and DJs, with tentative plans to hire a graffiti artist to customize blank models.

(2005-03-01)

Also by Jessica Herman

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