Hypebeast Flea is coming to London this September 9 and 10 – and you’re invited.
Hypebeast is taking over Truman Brewery in the heart of Shoreditch for a two-day retail and cultural experience showcasing a carefully curated selection of local brands, designers and artisans across fashion, art and beyond.
Enlisting over 25 of the country’s most exciting and creative collectives, London’s Hypebeast Flea marks the series’ global debut as we’ll be taking the event around the world in the coming months – so stay tuned, because Flea might be coming to a city near you.
Key stakeholder in Hypebeast business expansion launching 5 new regions in 2 years.
I led the launch of Hypebeast’s five newest regions, responsible for building these from the ground up – editorial strategy, team hiring, and being the key editorial stakeholder working with finance, legal and commercial partners.
@hypebeastarabia (July ‘21), @hypebeastbr (Feb ‘22), @hypebeastuk (Sep ‘22), @hypebeastlatam (Dec ‘22), @hypebeastafrica (Jan ‘23).
My team is located across Dubai, Johannesburg, London, Mexico City, and Sao Paolo.
Role: Project Lead, Event Seeding
My role was to lead the planning and ultimately ensure the smooth execution of this seeding event. I worked closely with colleagues across the country in multiple functions including supply chain, logistics, entertainment marketing and even legal to make this happen on a few hours notice.
Guests were presented with the exclusive and unreleased shoes on the tarmac as they boarded jets out of Wyoming. A parting gift after an unforgettable evening.
Role: Project Lead
I had the privilege of being the project lead for adidas’ tribute to my friend and an industry legend, Gary Warnett, aka Gwarizm, who passed away suddenly in September 2017.
To honor his memory and the legacy he left behind, we created a very limited, commemorative collection on the 1-year anniversary of his passing: 40 sets, on what would have been his 40th birthday, were gifted to Gary’s closest friends and family. Additionally, a 1-of-1 adidas Adventure jacket, complete with Gary’s famous logo, was created for the family.
Gary was a self-confessed GORE-TEX geek who had “a particular interest in the adidas Waterproof” trainer (read his words here). The idea to and the shoe’s colors were inspired by Molly, Gary’s beloved best friend ( 🐶).
This was a project that involved a small but transcontinental group of people of various teams and backgrounds who (almost all) had a personal relationship with Gary. Chris Law was the Creative Concept and Design lead, with support from Andrew Hopkins; Peter Schwirtz and Tom Smith (Product Managers); Stacy Scott (Development); Jeff Carvalho at Highsnobiety was our media partner; U-DOX was our agency partner, led by Niranjela Keen; Glenn Kitson (Director) and Ed Hubert (DOP) created the video. Finally, special thanks are reserved to Ian Warnett, Joanna Chaundy and Molly, as well as Gary’s mum who made us feel at home.
Role: Project Co-Lead
As co-lead I ensured this activation came to life with just a few days notice. This required closely working with multiple partners both internally at adidas, and externally at West Brands, shoe factory and our creative agency, in the United States and internationally.
This activation was time-critical and relied on product availability; to ensure this, I worked with our factory in China and logistics partners to redirect it from its regular supply chain onto several locations across the United States. Given the urgency and time difference, a new kind of fluidity and closer collaboration was needed to successfully achieve this.
The goals for this activation were simple: reimagine the lemonade stand, an icon of Americana, while raising awareness for a cause close to Kanye’s heart.
All proceeds from this activation were donated to NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness.
Role: Global Concept-to-Consumer Manager (All Markets)
We relaunched YEEZY BOOST 350 V2 ‘Triple White’ in fall ’18. This was - and still is - the largest single-day launch in adidas history, in both volume and revenue, fulfilling Kanye’s earlier promise to make YEEZYs more widely available.
In my role I co-created the global marketplace strategy across both DTC and WHS, working closely with our key market partners to ensure this was executed accordingly. Although the largest YEEZY launch to date, we implemented a very carefully considered strategy to ensure the product both sold out quickly and retained it’s desirability.
The launch was supported by a full communications plan led by a print takeover of the front covers of global newspapers with the uniting theme of ‘We Love’. The lookbook, shot by artist Rita Minissi, was marketed across all digital touchpoints as well as out-of-home.
Significant contribution to key market growth…
€1.3 BILLION IN SALES (+15.5% PY) - North America Q3 2018
€1.9 BILLION IN SALES (+13.8% PY) - Asia Pacific Q3 2018
Role: Global Concept-to-Consumer Manager (All Markets)
We pre-launched the YEEZY 500 ‘Supermoon Yellow’ as an online exclusive on yeezysupply.com months ahead of the wider retail release - the sneakers were made available early as part of a bundle including YEEZY SEASON 6 apparel.
This tied in with Kim Kardashian’s #YEEZYSEASON6 ‘Clones’ campaign which launched as pre-orders were beginning to ship in late January.
Additionally, this helped to drive energy and conversation around the second YEEZY 500 colorway, ’Blush’, which was set to pre-launch exclusively in Los Angeles during All Star Weekend in February.
Role: Global Project Lead, Social Media
My job was to successfully launch and sustain the hype on social around what would become 2015-16’s most popular sneaker.
NMD’s ethos was simple: the shoe was created to explore the world’s urban jungles. New York City was, then, a fitting place to launch it and I worked with our NY-based agency partner to capture, create and publish content from the city in real-time, serving as a short period of teaser visuals in the days leading up to the global launch event where NMD was finally revealed.
To build on this we provided markets with a brief to localize the campaign using Creators from their cities. We leveraged the best of this local content on the global @adidasoriginals channels; doing so presented our global community with a richer, multi-layered narrative, but also inspired UGC creation around the #NMD hashtag. Additionally, this provided a platform for the up and coming macro-influencers and Creators from our various market cities worldwide.
NMD was radical by traditional adidas standard in both design and storytelling around its launch. This shoe epitomized an internal culture shift within the company: one that paralleled the NMD campaign slogan ‘past empowers future’, and one where social media led the charge.
Results…
30 MILLION CONSUMERS reached on the major social platforms
2.3 MILLION OWNED engagements
1.9 MILLION OWNED engagements
MOST SUCCESSFUL LAUNCH in adidas history at the time
Role: Global Social Media Manager
We created the first ever Snapchat-to-SMS Scavenger Hunt to give away 100 pairs of the most exclusive sneaker of 2016, sending the already huge hype for NMD into overdrive and tripling our Snapchat following in 24 hours.
The scavenger hunt was filmed and published live in New York City, but followers from anywhere in the world were able to participate through texting the phone number revealed in the Snap story.
This wasn’t your ordinary giveaway; it was an interactive experience that had our community excitedly glued to their phones all day. Sentiment was overwhelmingly positive, even around those who didn’t win. We broke new ground in the ways brands connect with their consumers and owned the conversation for days after.
Results…
4.8 MILLION VIEWS on Snapchat in 24 hours.
87,000 SCREENSHOTS of the Snap story.
75,000 NEW FOLLOWERS on Snapchat.
86% COMPLETION RATE.
800,000 TEXTS sent to our Text Bot.
131,000 ENTRIES completed.
115 PARTICIPATING COUNTRIES.
Role: Global Social Media Manager
To relaunch the Gazelle in 2016 we turned to an iconic photograph of Kate Moss from 1993.
We partnered with digital artist Doug Abraham, aka @bessnyc4, to bring the photo back to life in a way that would resonate with the social media and GIF-obsessed, mobile Gen-Z consumer.
To celebrate the Gazelle's place in cultural history we produced a lookbook that paid homage to the different 'style tribes' that adopted the shoe, featuring Tyshawn Jones, Selah Marley and more. And, to breathe more life even into these new lookbook images, we chopped and sliced some of the stills into remixed GIFs for use exclusively on social.
Additionally, I collaborated with my counterparts in key adidas markets to create extra content with local up and coming Creators (illustrators, artists, stylists). This was used as an extension of the main campaign, and examples can be seen here.
Role: Global Social Media Manager
NIGO’s debut collection with adidas Originals.
We shot the lookbook on 35mm film with no post-production - the unedited photos formed part of the narrative: RATKING was a raw, up-and-coming rap group from New York; this collection was a nod to adidas’ hip-hop heritage.
Although this was technically a collaboration between adidas and NIGO, we used our social media as a platform to collaborate further by bringing RATKING into the mix, building on the product story and delivering a richer experience for our community.
Role: Project Lead Content & Social Media
As the Global Social Media Manager for adidas Originals, I led all publishing, content creation, copywriting and directed the Instagram/Snapchat video stories for this campaign.
We hacked Snapchat and launched the world's first-ever LIVE drone footage story, challenging native behaviors on social media and going beyond what the platform was then capable of.
We also commissioned L.A. based creative duo UZi to shoot the runway show live for @adidasoriginals social channels, with edits produced and published in real-time. These complimented the PR campaign shot by Juergen Teller, but simultaneously provided a different point-of-view that catered to a younger millennial/Gen Z consumer.
This collection was the first time the Trefoil logo was flipped upside down and our social campaign mirrored this sense of disruption.
Role: Global Social Media Manager
For FW15, NIGO hand-picked Stormzy to bring the collection to life.
Content from both the brand film and lookbook was shared on the global @adidasoriginals channels, and I worked closely with the adidas London newsroom to create a tailored publishing plan to go live on @adidaslondon.
Stormzy, who created the exclusive song ‘Nigo Duppy’ for the collection, was tapped for extra support on his channels. To ensure an authentic and organic conversation, we let him to lead with the release.
Role: Project Lead, Communications & Social Media
I collaborated directly with Lev Tanju (Co-Founder) to build a publishing plan for both adidas and Palace channels.
While the partner, Palace, created the raw content, my role was to produce channel-specific edits of both the stylized lookbook of stills and the brand film. As the scope of the content available was limited, this allowed us to stretch the story over multiple days and for our channels to have a point of difference.
The collection was only available to purchase at Palace and select skate stores worldwide, and not at any adidas-owned destination. Through dedicated community management in the run up to launch we ensured our followers knew where to purchase this limited collection.
As Palace did not have a U.S. retail presence at this time, we also commissioned a temporary pop-up space in New York City to sell the collection.
Role: Project Lead, Communications & Social Media
In SS15 we launched the first footwear from the adidas x Palace partnership.
We partnered with London grime scene legend D Double E for a trippy two-minute video showcasing the product. We cross-posted all content between @adidasoriginals, Palace and D Double E’s social channels; this increased the story’s overall reach while allowing it to penetrate and resonate with different communities.
This was an unexpected, if natural, collaboration given Palace’s London roots, and the worldwide resurgence the grime scene was then having. It was in line with Palace’s cheeky tone of voice and a refreshing way to present product.
Role: Global Project Lead, Social Media
I created a social media publishing plan - including all copywriting, image and video selection, and community management - to introduce adidas’ partnership with Kanye West, the Season 1 collection and the launch of the YEEZY BOOST 750.
Worked on the ground during New York Fashion Week to capture the most impactful moments for use on @adidasoriginals socials, including the Season 1 fashion presentation and Kanye’s surprise appearance at the adidas store.
Collaborated with the adidas US newsroom and their network of New York City-based photographers to capture content live from the fashion presentation, then published this in real-time and ensured @adidasoriginals socials led the conversation - even before the official post-show press release was distributed.
Role: Project Lead, Social Media (Content & Publishing)
To relaunch the EQT sneaker range, we launched #TLKS, a digitally-sourced panel series featuring creators at the forefront of innovation, creativity, and performance - three tenets that defined what EQT was about.
We streamed this on our social channels live from Art Basel in Miami, and a global audience fueled the conversation via the adidas Originals Facebook Messenger chatbot.
A limited-edition EQT sneaker was created and we gave these away in three disruptive, public seeding events throughout Miami, inviting our followers via Snapchat to participate.
Some results..
55 MILLION IMPRESSIONS
1.25 MILLION PEOPLE watched our Facebook livestream
347,000 MESSAGES to our chatbot
Role: Project Lead, Social Media Campaign Roll-out
50 colors. 50 choices. How do you tell this story on social media?
Supercolor spoke to Pharrell’s vision of creative empowerment, choice and equality. It was less about the product, and more about the person wearing it.
So, we took this message of creative freedom and briefed a campaign without limits. It was simple: reinterpret the Superstar and express what it means to you.
As part of the global team, we empowered our market partners to bring this to life in a way that resonated in their locality: South Korea, for example, launched a Supercolor Studio, a crowdsourced art piece; we also called on our worldwide network of Creators (micro- and macro-influencers) to create content that was shared on both global and local channels.
Role: Global Project Lead, Social Media
To re-launch the iconic adidas Superstar sneaker and re-establish its cultural relevance, we challenged the notion of ‘superstardom’ and inspired the adidas social media community to redefine this for themselves.
We partnered with globally recognized superstars including David Beckham and Pharrell Williams for a series of images and 90-second film that questioned the true meaning of superstar and its place in society.
Additionally, an app was created to allow the adidas community to apply the campaign creative treatment unto their likeness - this created a wave of user-generated content that, together with the #OriginalSuperstar hashtag, allowed us to directly engage with our consumer on a wide scale.
Results…
292% INCREASE in global sales at launch
2016 CANNES LIONS - Shortlist in Creative Effectiveness
2015 D&AD - Pencil
2015 CANNES LIONS - Bronze Film Lion
2015 CLIO AWARDS - Silver in Design
2015 AICP AWARDS - Winner in Cinematography & Score
2015 SHOTS AWARDS - Shortlist
Role: Project Lead, Social Media
We launched our FW16 collaborative collection with Japanese label White Mountaineering at Pitti Uomo in Florence, Italy, as the specially-invited ‘Designer Project’.
To capture the event for social, we set up multiple cameras shooting from many angles. Raw ‘behind-the-scenes’ style imagery was processed and published in real-time, giving the adidas social media community a sense of involvement wherever in the world they were.
This was the most talked about and most shared-on-social show of the week, highlighting how forward-thinking runway shows can translate into highly-shareable digital moments.
Role: Project Lead, Global Social Media
Created global publishing plan to support the annual Primavera Sound music festival in 2015, 2016 and 2017, authentically elevating a local event into a global story.
Collaborated with partners at festival and with adidas Spain marketing team to create highly-shareable, in-festival experiences with seasonal campaign and product tie-ins, such as over-sized Superstar (2015) and NMD lab (2016).
These experiential installations built brand equity and were amongst the festival’s most visited, photographed and shared.
Role: Project Lead, Social Media
I collaborated directly with Pharrell Williams’ marketing team at iamOTHER to create a social media publishing plan for both adidas and Pharrell’s channels.
This included all copywriting, scheduling and market alignment, publishing, and community management.
Additionally, I worked with creative agency (Lloyd & Co) on the many different deliverables needed per channel, then packaged and shared these downstream with all markets, and performed all tagging within Sprinklr.
100% FULL COLLECTION SELL-THROUGH on launch day
Role: PR Assistant
Assisted in creating the media release plan for King Krule’s debut album ‘6 Feet Beneath the Moon’.
Arranged interviews with key editors and seeded promotional material to all relevant publications, securing both local and national, digital and print coverage.
Role: PR Assistant
Assisted in creating the media release plan for David Lynch’s album ‘The Big Dream’.
Arranged interviews with key editors and seeded promotional material to all relevant publications, securing both local and national, digital and print coverage.
Role: PR Assistant
Assisted in creating the media release plan for Lovebox Festival 2013.
Advance tickets sold out.
Role: PR Assistant
Assisted in creating the media release plan for Barcelona’s Primavera Sound festival in 2013.
Advance tickets sold out in 24 hours.
Role: Communications Manager
Conceptualization and ideation of communications campaign imagery for Nike x Liberty collection.
Work done while at Protein creative agency.
