Just like last year’s appearance while accepting the award for Samba as the Shoe of the Year, Adidas chief executive officer Bjørn Gulden couldn’t resist taking a shot at Nike again while receiving the 2024 FN Achievement Award for Person of the Year.

“As I said last year when Nike was here — they’re not here this year, which is funny; It was a joke, it was a joke — I said we had a lot in the pipeline,” Gulden said. “And when you have 75 years of history, you have a lot in the pipeline. So to the people in the US, Europe China, Mexico and wherever, they should have the prize.”

Prior to the jab at Adidas largest competitor, which drew laughs from the audience, Gulden shifted focus to the broader company.

“There shouldn’t be any award for person for the year because we all known in this industry it’s the team,” Gulden said. “It should be renamed Team of the Year.”

At last year’s award show, Gulden also garnered laughs when he said: “To the Nike people in the room, watch out. We have a lot in the pipeline… not a joke.”

Gulden was introduced by Billie Jean King, who honed in on his connection to soccer (or football) and said his superpower is “making us all want to buy more sneakers.

Since taking over as the CEO of Adidas in January 2023, Gulden as led a remarkable turnaround for the German footwear giant. Adidas has raised its guidance three times over the course of 2024, and in its most recently reported quarter, sales hit 6.44 billion euros (or $6.79 billion at current exchange), compared with 5.99 billion euros (or $6.31 billion) in the third quarter last year.

The reversal in sales under Gulden’s stewardship testifies to Adidas’ quickly renewed grasp of the zeitgeist following the high-profile exit of Kanye West. His award comes after the Samba was named Shoe of the Year at the 2023 FN Achievement Awards, and the Anthony Edwards 1 (or AE 1) has generated more buzz than any other basketball sneaker, debut or otherwise, in a number of years.

“Adidas’ turnaround stood out because they didn’t just navigate challenges. They set the tone for the industry,” said Martin Badour, president of Snipes USA, said in the FN story on Gulden’s award. “In a tough market, they leaned into innovation, stayed culturally relevant and delivered products that resonated with consumers, proving they’re always a step ahead.”

Snipes CEO Dennis Schröder added: “A strength of Bjørn Gulden is definitely his realistic and holistic perspective on the market. As a leader, he not only manages to keep up with the speed of the market but is regularly ahead of it, focusing on the right product and optimized supply chains. Bjørn sets the right impulses for success.”

For 38 years, the annual FN Achievement Awards — often called the “Shoe Oscars” — have celebrated the style stars, best brand stories, ardent philanthropists, emerging talents and industry veterans. The 2024 event is supported by sponsors Listrak, Marc Fisher, Nordstrom and Vibram. 

About the Author:

Ian Servantes is a Senior News Editor for Footwear News specializing in sneaker coverage. He’s previously reported on streetwear and sneakers at Input and Highsnobiety after beginning his career on the pop culture beat. He subscribes to the idea that “ball is life” and doesn’t fuss over his kicks getting dirty.

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On Dec. 4, Bjørn Gulden will be honored with the Person of the Year award at the 38th annual FN Achievement Awards. Below is a conversation with the Adidas CEO from the magazine’s Dec. 2 print issue, talking about his part in the company’s dramatic turnaround.

When Bjørn Gulden assumed control of Adidas in January 2023, the industry veteran inherited a company in turmoil. With determination, grit and seasoned business instincts, the chief executive officer led a remarkable revival that has once again put the Three Stripes at the center of the sneaker conversation.

But if you ask Gulden, its his team at Adidas that deserves all the credit.

“We have worked hard to get where we are. That result is because of many people,” the Adidas chief told FN last month. “We have a long way to go, but we have the things in our hands to take it to the next level. But this is a team thing, not an individual thing.”

Adidas raised its guidance three times in 2024, and in October, the company predicted growth of roughly 10 percent for the year, rather than a previously expected increase in the mid-single digits. In its most recently reported quarter, sales hit 6.44 billion euros (or $6.79 billion at current exchange), compared with 5.99 billion euros (or $6.31 billion) in the third quarter last year.

Though the rapid pace of this turnaround seemed unlikely last year, since Gulden’s appointment, the company has found success in several areas. For instance, the Samba — which was the 2023 FNAA Shoe of the Year — led the soccer-inspired “terrace” trend. And in performance basketball, it won over hoops fans with the release of Anthony Edwards’ signature shoe, the AE 1.

“Adidas’ turnaround stood out because they didn’t just navigate challenges. They set the tone for the industry,” said Martin Badour, president of Snipes USA. “In a tough market, they leaned into innovation, stayed culturally relevant and delivered products that resonated with consumers, proving they’re always a step ahead.”

And Snipes CEO Dennis Schröder added that Gulden’s leadership has been an important component in its resurgence.

“A strength of Bjørn Gulden is definitely his realistic and holistic perspective on the market,” Schröder said. “As a leader, he not only manages to keep up with the speed of the market but is regularly ahead of it, focusing on the right product and optimized supply chains. Bjørn sets the right impulses for success.”

Here, Gulden talks more about Adidas’ highs and lows this year, as well as where the athletic giant is headed next.

You were under a lot of pressure when you took the reins. How have you approached the turnaround process?

Bjørn Gulden: “I’ve known the Adidas brand for many years, and I respect the possibilities. When I got the chance to run the company, I [knew we could] turn it around, but your enemy is always time. The beauty of coming from the outside when you have a management change is that they allow you that. They would not have hired me if I needed to turn things around in six months. If you have unlimited time, you can turn any company around because you can do things at the right sequence. Being public, you’re always under short-term pressure. The reason why I’m calm is that I’m old and I’ve done this a couple of times. As long as I’m healthy, I will always be calm.”

How did you make sure the industry understood your vision?

BG: “[We] showed both retailers and consumers that Adidas is back. If we please the consumers well enough and the retailers are with us, they can make money, and that’s the whole purpose. I’m a tool for them to make money, and if they don’t, then they don’t need me. The suppliers, the brand and the retailers need to work hand in hand, and maybe one of my strengths is that I know that chain and I am trying to be a fair partner. You need to trust people more in the chain, and you need to be more local in your decision-making because you cannot do everything [centrally]. It just doesn’t work anymore.”

You’re fiercely passionate about great product. How do you tell the innovation story in the right way?

BG: “Given the negativity that was around the company, it needed a new leader, and that happened to be me. But there are many people who could have done the same, or maybe even better. If there’s one thing I stand for, it’s focusing on the things that are relevant — the people, the product and the consumer, and therefore the retailers and the athletes. There’s a joke about me that we now have 35,000 articles sampled and we have a building full of products. The reason for that is, when you’re being accused of not having the right product, the best thing to do is showcase that it’s not true and show the product. If you’re a buyer and you see 2,000 products on the showroom wall, it takes you five minutes to get the impression of what this is all about. If you look only at a screen, you lose interest after 10 screens. If I should take credit for one thing, I think it was bringing back the focus on the strength of ideas when it comes to product and the brand.”

It was a big sports year across the board. How did Adidas capitalize?

BG: “Having the Euro [UEFA European Championship] here in Germany and seeing how the brand showed up across the activations, the players, the teams, and then ending with Spain winning, that was great. And parallel, Argentina won the Copa [América]. And then going to the Olympics and seeing Adidas showing up as the sports brand it is. Those two events, for me, were goosebumps things because it showed the importance of sports again. The fans, the full stadiums, the positivity, and Adidas in the middle of it looking great. That’s where, at least emotionally, everything comes together and you say, ‘Wow.’ But then you see that the brand is turning around and your like-for-like sales are going up every week, every month, and you get this feeling again that the consumer wants your product. There is nothing nicer than that.”

What did you struggle with the most this year?

BG: “In the beginning, it was to supply the demand. It’s frustrating when there’s a demand and you can’t fulfill it. It’s bad when you have people screaming for your product, but you don’t have any. The pressure put on manufacturers and the supply chain was tough because when the momentum came, we knew we had to deliver. That was a challenge, but the team was fantastic. And a difficult emotional thing was the negotiation with the German [Soccer] Federation. We came to the conclusion that, after all the years, we would give up the German national team, this symbol of Adidas in Germany. It was difficult because it created so much noise. The decision was rational, it was easy, but the consequence was it became a huge issue. That was emotionally not easy to deal with. I struggled with that personally.”

Is the Kanye West saga fully behind Adidas?

BG: “The relationship with him was over at the end of 2022 and I started in ’23. What I have dealt with is to get rid of the inventory and then try to utilize whatever income we got out of that to do something good. For me, we start in 2025 clean. We have no more inventory and we have business plans and product plans that have nothing to do with it, so that chapter is over.”

The second Trump term could bring new tariffs and other changes to the U.S. market. How are you preparing?

BG: “Regardless of who the president is, it starts with what Adidas can do for the American consumer. John [Miller], the president of Adidas North America, and Torben [Schumacher], who heads up the lifestyle piece in L.A., they decide what we do in the U.S. My job is to facilitate so we can do the right thing. Supply chain-wise, regardless of what happened in the U.S., we have already separated the China-to-U.S. supply chain. So what we need to do is better connect with the U.S. consumer, [such as] being in high school sport, college sport — and be part of American street culture. You can only do that in the U.S.”

Nike is looking to reboot under a new CEO, and brands including New Balance and Asics have a lot of momentum. How do you stave off the competition?

BG: “By focusing on the consumer. I don’t see my job as competing. I see my job as satisfying and pleasing a consumer, and there are enough consumers out there. If you do a good job with her and him, we will win the consumer. Far too many people are trying to measure what they’re doing compared to somebody, and you can look at market shares in 10 different ways. My goal for my team is to make innovative products that are linked to what the consumer will buy and do that better and better — and then we will grow.”

Soccer-inspired footwear has been a style staple the past couple of years. Will that continue?

BG: “The relaunch of the brand came with the Samba, Gazelle and Spezial — and people are worried that when that slows down, what happens? But if you look at our range, you will see that the Samba consumer has so many options. At the same time, we’ll utilize the brand heat to establish a wider offer in lifestyle running, which started with the SL 72. You have the Aruku, which is very directional, you have Megaride. We have basketball with [Anthony Edwards], we have soccer, running and we are increasing our other performance businesses. We have a good plan for the next 18 months and have all the tools to react to any changes and be as humble and nimble as we should be.”

For 38 years, the annual FN Achievement Awards — often called the “Shoe Oscars” — have celebrated the style stars, best brand stories, ardent philanthropists, emerging talents and industry veterans. The 2024 event is supported by sponsors Listrak, Marc Fisher, Nordstrom and Vibram.

The big night is almost here! FN today revealed more of its honorees for the FN Achievement Awards (FNAAs), the industry’s most-anticipated event of the year.

The 38th annual awards ceremony will be held Dec. 4 in New York. As previously announced, designer, entrepreneur and philanthropist Kenneth Cole will be recognized with the Lifetime Achievement Award, an honor that has been bestowed on designers and executives including Christian Louboutin, Manolo Blahnik, Sam and Libby Edelman, Bruce Nordstrom and Vince Camuto.

In addition, FN will also highlight the year’s many other success stories, including brands and companies that outshone all the others with winning strategies, plus the creators and entrepreneurs who dazzled with their unique visions.

“Straddling the line between an exclusive, industry insider event and a starry showcase for the shoe-loving celebrity world, the Footwear News Achievement Awards has a long and storied history of documenting the powerful intersection of sports, fashion and pop culture,” said Michael Atmore, editorial director of Footwear News and chief brand officer of Fairchild Media Group. “The 2024 class of winners reflects incredible innovation, design prowess and business acumen. We are honored to reward the leaders, the brands and the emerging talents that have shaped the year in shoes and celebrate the powerful and inspiring stories behind their achievements.”

Each year, the FNAAs — often called the “Shoe Oscars” — celebrate footwear’s influential style stars, best brand stories, ardent philanthropists, emerging talents and industry veterans.

Below is a list of the 2024 award recipients. Stay tuned for more FNAA winners, which will be announced in the coming days.

Lifetime Achievement Award: Kenneth Cole

For more than four decades, Kenneth Cole has been committed to fashion with a mission. Using his eponymous brand’s powerful platform, he has tirelessly championed numerous social justice movements, including HIV/AIDS awareness, gun control, climate change and, most recently, ending mental health stigmas. His early efforts created a model that others have since followed.

Company of the Year: New Balance

New Balance couldn’t miss in 2024. Both its heritage and collaboration sneakers topped every must-have list, it scored major Olympic moments with partners like Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and Gabby Thomas, and now, thanks to a new WNBA deal, New Balance will take a key role in one of the hottest sports leagues in America.

Person of the Year: Bjørn Gulden

Since rejoining Adidas in early 2023 as its chief executive officer, Bjørn Gulden has helped steer the German athletic giant through a remarkable turnaround. An inventory cleanup and new hyperlocal strategy helped improve financials faster than anyone expected. And when its “terrace shoes” exploded in popularity, the company was ready to capitalize on the demand.

Retailer of the Year: JD Sports

“Bigger is better” seems to be the approach for U.K.-based retail company JD Sports. In addition to opening 85 new stores in the first half of this year, it completed its acquisition of American chain Hibbett in July, which added 1,179 stores to the total portfolio and made North America its largest geographic market. As it works to transition Finish Line stores to JD Sports locations, the company is poised to grow its U.S. mindshare even further.

Designer of the Year: Edgardo Osorio

In an era when many independent shoe designers are facing significant challenges and have scaled back, Aquazzura founder and creative director Edgardo Osorio is forging ahead. His 12-year-old brand continues to drive growth with retail expansion in key markets. And Aquazzura has become a red-carpet mainstay, with everyone from Beyoncé and Meghan Markle to Angelina Jolie wearing the brand this year.

Brand of the Year: On

The Swiss athletic brand continues its strong standing in the ultra-competitive running market, growing global sales 24 percent in the first half of this year to 1.08 billion Swiss francs (or $1.24 billion at current exchange). And its already red-hot fashion cred got an additional boost this year from its collaboration with Loewe and a new partnership with actress and style influencer Zendaya.

Brand of the Year: Larroudé

During a time when many independent designers have closed or scaled back their businesses, Larroudé has defied the odds, racking up $30 million in sales in 2023, less than three years since its launch in 2020. Chief creative officer Marina Larroudé and her husband, chief executive officer Ricardo Larroudé, honed a successful strategy built around buzzy collaborations, product freshness and a faster DTC model.

Icon Award for Social Impact: Skechers

The company will be honored for its multi-faceted philanthropic efforts, most notably the Skechers Pier to Pier Friendship Walk, which has made an incredible impact on the lives of children with special needs and the broader public education sector over the past 16 years. In addition, Skechers has been a huge supporter of animal welfare, donating millions through the Bobs brand to help shelter pets. And, of course, there’s no bigger supporter of the Manhattan Beach community than Skechers.

Launch of the Year: Sneex

She already built a billion-dollar brand from the ground up. Now Spanx founder Sara Blakely is disrupting the footwear industry with her Sneex brand. The buzzed-about launch in August certainly got people talking. And the shoes gained a place on the coveted Oprah’s Favorite Things holiday list (likely with help from super fan Gayle King). Blakely’s patented design features a sneaker-stiletto hybrid (cheekily called hy-heels) that’s made in Spain and features a 78mm heel. The goal of the design is to address major pain points in a traditional high heel.  

Emerging Talent Award: Philéo Landowski

At just 22 years old, French designer Philéo Landowski has quickly established a reputation as a go-to creative voice in footwear, collaborating with Comme des Garçons, Salomon, Adidas and many others. Additionally, his namesake unisex brand has grown over 10 seasons, now distributed in 14 countries with close to 40 doors, including Kith and Dover Street Market. 

Hall of Fame: Tacey Powers

Tacey Powers joined Nordstrom in 1981, starting on the sales floor and working her way up to the executive level, where she now serves as executive vice president and general merchandise manager for shoes. In addition to overseeing the retailer’s stores in the U.S., she also has been committed to mentorship and giving back to the industry as a board member for Two Ten Footwear Foundation and Footwear Retailers and Distributors of America. 

Hall of Fame: Susan Itzkowitz

In 2004, Susan Itzkowitz partnered with Marc Fisher to launch a new shoe venture, which has grown into a powerful player in the fashion footwear business, encompassing 14 brands, including licensed collections for Calvin Klein, Guess, Tommy Hilfiger, Hunter and others. And as a longtime board member for Two Ten Footwear Foundation, she has spearheaded efforts to increase representation and opportunities for women in the industry.  

Hall of Fame: Dave Powers

Dave Powers retired from his role as chief executive officer of Deckers Brands in August, capping off an incredible 12-year run with the company. He joined Deckers as president of direct-to-consumer in August 2012, rising through the ranks to become CEO in 2016. Under his tenure, Deckers experienced explosive growth, led by its Ugg and Hoka businesses. For its last fiscal year, the company scored $4.3 billion in sales.

Adidas and Kanye West have settled their legal battles through an out-of-court settlement, the German sportswear brand confirmed in a call with reporters.

Both parties had been engaged in several legal arguments since the brand terminated its partnership with West’s Yeezy label in 2021 after the designer made a series of public antisemitic remarks.

According to the report, Adidas chief executive officer Bjørn Gulden told reporters in a conference call that there are no more “open issues” with West and that the pair had settled the issues without exchanging any money.

“There were tensions on many issues, and… when you put the claims on the right side and you put the claims on the left side, both parties said we don’t need to fight anymore and withdrew all the claims,” Gulden said, according to a Reuters report.

In 2023, Adidas began selling some Yeezy inventory and donated a portion of proceeds to organizations representing people who “were hurt” by Kanye West’s antisemitic comments. While the Yeezy termination had a negative impact on Adidas’ results for several quarters initially, the company has since recovered and has bolstered other parts of its core business to make up for losses.

This month, Adidas raised its guidance for the year after reporting better-than-expected results for the third quarter. Currency-neutral revenues, minus Yeezy sales, were were up 14 percent in the quarter.

Bjørn Gulden is now in his second stint at Adidas, after holding several roles at the brand from 1992 to 1999, including senior vice president of apparel and accessories. The current chief executive officer noted that much has changed since his first go-round.

“At the beginning of the ’90s, Adi was almost bankrupt. We were a bunch of young kids who got positions we definitely were not qualified for, but we had a passion and energy for sports and the brand,” Gulden said.

He added that the team worked day and night, practically living in factories, traveling to retailers. This experience, Gulden said, forced him to learn all aspects of the business and educated him on the value chain.

Today, he said, Adidas has more structure than it did back then, making the experiences incomparable.

However, the brand’s mission hasn’t wavered. “The core — designing, developing, producing, shipping, selling and marketing product — is exactly the same,” Gulden said. “And the products are the same. As a professional soccer player, I played in the Samba. Now, it’s the most fashionable shoe.”

But Gulden did describe today’s world as more “complicated,” with several ongoing wars, tense political situations and a pandemic not long in the rearview. To succeed amid all these uncertainties requires flexibility and agility. “You cannot go on holiday for three weeks, come back and think the world is the same,” he said. “It is a tense, volatile environment. You need to be on your toes.”

Nevertheless, Gulden is confident Adidas will shine through given its focus on things that bring people together: sports and music.

“It doesn’t matter where you’re from, your religion, if you’re big or small, old or young, we come together and celebrate,” Gulden said. “Sports and music are holding things together, and we are in the middle of it. That’s a great feeling.”

About the Author

Peter Verry is the Senior News and Features Editor for Athletic and Outdoor at Footwear News. He oversees coverage of the two fast-paced and ultracompetitive markets, which includes conducting in-depth interviews with industry leaders and writing stories on sneakers and outdoor shoes. He is a lifelong sneaker addict (and shares his newest purchases via @peterverry on Instagram) and spends most of his free time on a trail. He holds an M.A. in journalism from Hofstra University and can be reached at peter.verry@footwearnews.com.

Bjørn Gulden is known for his larger-than-life personality, but when it comes to taking photos, the Adidas chief is surprisingly camera-shy.

 “Now finished,” Gulden said with a laugh, walking away mid shoot from photographer Andrew Boyle and toward the couches inside FN’s photo studio in New York City wearing a pair of blue-and-yellow SL 72s, a running shoe from 1972 that’s performing well for the brand.

After changing into a black-and-white Adidas track jacket and matching Superstars, Gulden returns to the set for the final shot. His shoe of choice is fitting. Retro sneakers are dominating the industry, and the Superstar, which debuted in 1970, is one of Adidas’ greatest silhouettes ever. It’s also on deck to be the brand’s next big focus in the coming years, according to Gulden.

The executive is keen to speak to FN about the business — tapping his decades of experience to offer insights on the future of the sports brand. Adidas is a company near and dear to Gulden.

Before he worked in the footwear industry, the executive wore the brand’s shoes on the pitch as a professional soccer player. And after his athletic career, Gulden held roles at Adidas from 1992 to 1999, including senior vice president of apparel and accessories, before spending nine years at rival Puma, where he was credited with making the brand a major footwear player once again.

When he returned to Adidas in January 2023, Gulden inherited a brand in turmoil following the termination of its Yeezy deal. (The move was spurred by repeated antisemitic statements by the brand founder Kanye West in October 2022.) After the deal ended, Adidas weighed a variety of options for what to do with the leftover $1.3 billion worth of Yeezy product.

Ultimately, Gulden and his team decided to sell the leftover Yeezy product instead of scrapping it, giving some of the proceeds to charity. In the first quarter of 2024, Adidas made 150 million euros selling leftover Yeezy stock. Now, the company has around 200 million euros worth of it left, but plans to sell it at cost over the next three quarters. And, as they have been every quarter since the 2022 breakup with West, Adidas executives were keen to emphasize their brand is just as strong without Yeezy. “I wasn’t at the company when the [Yeezy] relationship was built,” Gulden said. “But we’re solving the situation I inherited in the best way possible.”

At Adidas’ annual general meeting in May, Gulden explained the state of the company when he walked in the door.

“We started 2023 with lots of negative reports,” Gulden said at May’s meeting. “People said things like ‘there is no innovation’; ‘there are no hot products and there is no brand heat’; ‘there’s no talent.’ It was a difficult start, but I will show you that we do have innovation that existed 12 months ago that had nothing to do with me and was already there.”

The CEO highlighted the Adizero Adios Pro Evo 1, Terrex Agravic Speed Ultra, Predator 24 and AE 1 sneakers as innovative models.

Gulden also signaled to investors that Adidas will continue to push out more affordable versions of some of its most popular shoes. “It’s important to understand that not everyone can buy a shoe for 120 to 150 [euros], but everyone wants to take part in the same trends,” Gulden said.

The brand revealed plans for models priced at 60 to 80 euros. Some of the shoes, such as the Samba-like VL Court, the Campus-adjacent Grand Court and the Stan Smith-leaning Advantage, are already on the market. During spring 2025, Adidas is set to introduce budget-friendly Spezial and Superstar models.

“Adidas excels by being rooted in performance while seamlessly crossing over into lifestyle. It resonates across footwear for men, women and kids, as well as apparel and accessories — a versatility that few brands can claim,” said Snipes chief merchandising officer Dimitrios Lessen, who admitted he’s excited to see how Adidas will further fuel the T-toe trend with its Sambae and Samba XLG silhouettes.

Another key to Adidas’ winning strategy is its fashion collaborations, which have been a cornerstone since the early 2000s, when it first forged its partnerships with Y-3 and Stella McCartney.

Of late, one of the company’s most successful collaborations is with British-Jamaican designer Grace Wales Bonner, who has created buzz in the fashion world through her Samba-focused product drops. “It’s been a positive journey that has evolved with intention,” Bonner said. “The partnership has allowed my work to reach a global audience and has supported the development of my love for footwear design.”

But even as Gulden leads Adidas into a revival, industry insiders warn against repeating some of the company’s past missteps.

“Historically, the brand has been far too European-centric. They have not focused on making shoes for the U.S. market,” said Matt Powell, an adviser at Spurwink River and senior adviser at BCE Consulting. “When they get a shoe that works here — Superstar, Samba — it’s a big deal, but it’s almost not intentional. It just seems to happen. What I hope to see happen is that Gulden does what he did with Puma and focuses product development on the U.S. market. If they get it right here, it could be a game changer.”

This is especially important given the current weaknesses of Adidas’ biggest rival, Nike, in the U.S.

“Outside of the U.S., Nike and Adidas are relatively in parity in terms of share. In the U.S. is where there’s a big gap,” Powell said. “Conventional wisdom has been it happened because Nike was so good here. I’m starting to come around to the alternate position, which is that Nike has such great share in the U.S. because Adidas was bad here. If Adidas can get it right — and I have confidence that’s what’s going to happen — we can see the landscape change dramatically.”

Here, Gulden gets candid about leadership-style criticisms, avoiding the missteps of Adidas’ competitors and the next steps in the brand’s turnaround.

The conversation has been edited for clarity.

Both you and Adidas have been the subject of endless headlines since you took over, including a viral moment at the 2023 FNAAs calling out Nike. Is all press good press?

 “Certain press, especially the German media, seem to try to find something negative to talk about, so I’m always advised to not say too much, but it is difficult for me. Sometimes I say something that turns out to be an issue for somebody. But I like to just speak the way I am; I never screen myself. Sometimes that creates some issues. That one at your event was meant in a more playful way. When you think about Adidas just a year ago, [people said] everything was wrong. No innovation, no brand, no product, everything was bad. And now suddenly, everything that was bad is positive. I think that’s why I can be polarizing in the press because sometimes it’s difficult for people to manage this transition.”

How do you grade the progress so far?

 “In front of the consumer, especially with women, we have turned the ship because the Originals and lifestyle part of the business has become very popular. When you look at the Spezial, the Campus and the SL 72, these are the healthy sneakers in many cities already. I didn’t expect that to happen so quickly, but when it happens quickly, it brings a better mood and builds better relationships. We can show our stakeholders fast that this is a great brand and it’s up to us to build it so that the business growth is also sustainable.”

You mentioned in a recent earnings call that North American sales are lagging six to nine months, but a cleaner inventory is helping. What’s needed to get the region back into sales gains?

“We’re proud of the fact that we are down 41 percent in inventory and have been disciplined and cleaned up some old stock in the market. We have also helped many retailers clean up their inventory on merchandise that hasn’t worked, especially in women’s. But this movement is a bit delayed when you compare it to what’s happening in Europe and Asia.

In America, to be a successful business, we need to connect to the men’s market, we need to connect to the urban consumer and we also need to be ‘more American.’ I have said from Day One that the world is not one market where you can have the same recipe. You need to look at what the consumer wants, what influences them. And then you need to build that into your local plan. You do the same in Europe, you do the same in Asia, and the commonality is good. But the difference is also good and more targeted. There’s no doubt that we need to be more American in the U.S. That’s what we’re trying to be. The recipe is easy, but the execution is always difficult. And we are in the middle of it.”

How are you building relationships with your retail partners?

“I really believe that Adidas is back to being one of the brands that retailers must plan with and work with for their buys now that the demand is there for the product. I had the task 14 months ago to make sure that these retailers are invited to the headquarters, that we give them samples, show them the product pipeline and make changes along the way. For me, that’s the natural way of doing business. Adidas had drifted away from that for whatever reason, but now we’re back and trying to be the best partner for the retailers.”

How do fashion-related partnerships, like your one with Wales Bonner, play into the overall shoe strategy?

“[Grace Wales Bonner] impresses me, and from what I hear, any luxury brand would want to work with her. I cannot say a millimeter of negativity about her. But when we approach these franchises, we must be very careful that we manage them in a better way than before. This includes heating them up at the right time and closely watching the social searches and other research techniques we use. A lot of the retailers we work with, especially the online fashion ones, give us feedback on what they’re seeing that’s trending and hopefully we can manage those trends in a timely way.

Right now, we’re focused on the Campus, Spezial and SL 72 sneakers. There is, of course, the Superstar, but we don’t need to push that right now, we can be careful with that rollout. We have some warm-up programs for the Superstar, with the first one being with Edison Chen that was released in January. We have a lot of things ready to go, and we’ve been very disciplined with cleaning up the market.”

You announced a new Champs-Élysées store in Paris slated to open shortly before the Summer Olympics. What opportunities do the Games present to Adidas, and how does this store play into the strategy?

“The Olympics really isn’t a commercial event like the World Cup or Euro, where you’re selling products. So young people from all over the world will come to Paris to compete against each other in, hopefully, a peaceful environment. Everyone wants to be in a party mood surrounding sports again. We have been isolated for a long time and there is a younger generation that hasn’t experienced any of these major events because of the pandemic. But as for our new store, it is a place for us to showcase the brand. And we were very lucky to get a great location at the exact right time that our product lines are heating up.”

There are some people that have called your leadership style “a blast from the past.”  Is this accurate?

“The comments you read are coming from ex-Adidas and ex-Puma people. I don’t care. If they’re ex, there’s a reason why they’re ex. And so far, I haven’t lost anybody at Adi that I didn’t want to lose. I’m focusing on the core of the business. We make physical products for physical people. The principles are the same, the only difference is the tools. The retailers I worked with 30 years ago are the same, manufacturers are the same, countries or regions are the same, lead times are the same. I think I’m the right guy for Adidas. [I won’t be] glued to my chair if I feel I’m not the right guy.”

What from your Puma playbook have you applied to Adidas?

“I’m always looking for people who make the team better. And I don’t like secrets. I like everything to be transparent. It doesn’t matter who you are, you have access to what everybody else has access to. Being close to the consumer, more local, being quick when reality is changing — those principles are the same. The difference is the scalability of Adidas when you have something. It’s bigger. I was caught by surprise 14 months ago when everything was negative. Now, in many markets, we have the hottest product. That’s the enormous power of the Three Stripes. At Adidas, for whatever reason, people stopped making decisions. If we have a good shoe, we need to launch it. We had Samba, but didn’t scale it. We had the Evo, the most innovative running shoe in the industry, but we didn’t launch it because we were testing. You could ask the people who were there, but I feel it was a very passive culture. Now, it’s alive. When you win, the mood is better, the campuses are alive, store managers are smiling.”

Nike has been criticized for its lack of innovation. How do you avoid that?

“Innovation [isn’t just] technology. Innovation is also how you rotate your franchises so they are perceived as being new. A year ago, we were criticized for not having running lifestyle, which was innovations like NMD and Ozweego — and the [Yeezy] 350 was drifting away. We briefed the running unit, Originals, Sportswear and said, ‘You can work on new things in running that they haven’t seen before.’ We’ve got six or seven projects out of that [effort] that will go to market. You will be surprised when you see shoes coming in the back end of this year, interesting new silhouettes that the market hasn’t seen before. We also must remember that when you’re bringing something perceived as being new, there’s a risk. Marketing, distribution, price point is also part of innovation. I believe the critique of Nike with innovation is also unfair. Nike has dropped a lot of innovation in the market.”

Nike CEO John Donahoe blamed remote work for its innovation problem. Do employees need to be in the office to be effective?

“No. We have built the nicest campuses because people should like to be there, but we shouldn’t force people to be there. I like work from home as a tool to give people flexibility and increase quality of life. But I don’t like the discussion that you should never be in the office, because we are a company that lives out of heat culture and a love for the brand. You cannot create that by only being home. We need people who are happy, motivated and love the brand. I have no problem if [an employee] wants to work from home because they just had a kid or they’re having a difficult time. I also have no problem if people work from home on a Friday or Monday because it gives them a longer weekend. But I’m not a fan of never being in the office. Adidas would not be Adidas if that were the case.”

Adidas was once called out for its lack of racial equity in the workplace. Where does the company stand today?

“If you talk about diversity, you need to look at the whole globe. My philosophy is you should try to have local management and teams mirror the local culture. And we need to make sure that regardless of what you are and where you’re coming from, your background, you can go all the way to the top in our company. Our headquarters in Germany is the most diverse multicultural company in all of Germany, but when you look through the ranks, there’s a time lag between where you want to be and where you are. When I started at Adidas [in the 1990s], it was only Germans and they were men. When you see the diversity now, we are basically 50-50 men and women, and we mirror most markets when it comes to background. Right now, we have Russians and Ukrainians in the office. [Their countries] are at war. We have Palestinian people and we have Israeli people. They are at war. You need to work with both sides, and this is difficult. But because we come from sport, it’s natural for us to bring people together. We have Indians and Pakistanis playing cricket every Tuesday. They’re always in conflict. It’s natural for us to be multicultural, but we are not perfect. And we shouldn’t be so afraid. Every time [diversity] comes up, people freak out. We should just talk about it. We try to have a dialogue with all groups and admit if something is not right, then fix it.”

Adidas AG CEO Bjørn Gulden on Thursday told shareholders that variations of the 2023 FN Achievement Awards Shoe of the Year winner and some of the brand’s other popular sneakers will soon become more accessible. 

The promise came during Adidas’ 2024 Annual General Meeting in Fürth, Germany, which took place the morning of May 16. As picked up by Reuters, Gulden signaled to investors that Adidas will continue to push cheaper versions of some of its most popular shoes such as Samba in effort to further grow the trend. 

“It’s important to understand that not everyone can afford to buy a shoe for 120 or 150 [euro], but everyone wants to take part in the same trends,” Gulden said. The announcement was accompanied by a slide presentation which showed plans to push similar models at price points ranging from €60 to €80.

Some of the shoes, such as the Samba-like VL Court, the Campus-adjacent Grand Court, and the Stan Smith-leaning Advantage, are already on the market. During Spring/Summer 2025, there are plans to introduce budget-friendly lifestyle running, Spezial, and Superstar models.  

Wales Bonner x Adidas Samba.

The most ubiquitous iteration of the model currently is the Samba OG, which retails starting at $100. Premium makeups of the shoe, such as the popular Wales Bonner collaboration, have been priced as high as $250. 

“What we do at the top, 100 [dollars] and higher, we’re bringing that down,” Gulden said.

The Adidas CEO added that the lower-priced models will be sold through budget retailers such as Deichmann and Intersport. 

Footwear brands will commonly offer “takedown” models, which feature similar designs as popular shoes at a fraction of the price, often forgoing premium materials and technologies to cut down on costs.

In related news, Adidas will release next week a ruffle-covered Samba collaboration with Chinese designer Caroline Hu.

Adidas CEO Bjorn Gulden made an unorthodox move when he took the helm of the German sportswear company last year.

At his first town hall as the company’s new chief executive, he shared his personal cellphone number with Adidas’ 60,000 employees, according to The Wall Street Journal. The move was meant to lift spirits and promote transparency in the wake of the company’s messy split with Yeezy founder Kanye “Ye” West.

“Some people think I’m crazy,” Gulden told the Journal. In the following weeks, Gulden says he was contacted close to 200 times each week by employees who worried about the future of the company.

Adidas took a significant financial hit when it parted ways with West in October of 2022 after the designer made a series of antisemitic marks on social media. Adidas’ current financial outlook represents the assumption that Adidas writes off the remaining 300 million euros (or $320 million) worth of remaining Yeezy products.

FN has reached out to Adidas for a comment.

Since taking the helm of Adidas, Gulden has taken an unfiltered approach in the way he addresses the media and the Street. In a call with analysts in March, the executive spoke candidly about the perception of work culture at Adidas.

“There has been a lot of negativity around Adidas, at least from the outside, about negative culture and people not liking to work here,” Gulden said. “I think there is a perception that this is not a great place to work, which is very, very wrong. And as I said, all the ingredients to be a great place to work is there and maybe we need to market it more down the road.”

The executive has also been candid about the brand’s shortcomings.

“The lifestyle side, which ironically is where we have a bigger archive than anybody else and where the trend in the market has gone back to with the ’90s and the ’80s, we have not exploited that the way that, for example, Nike has done,” he said in March. “And this is where we need to do a much, much better job.”

In more recent quarters, Adidas has seen positive results from its decision to start selling Yeezy merchandise once again. Adidas said it would donate a “significant” portion of proceeds from these sales to organizations representing people who “were hurt” by Kanye West’s comments. Before deciding to sell this merchandise again, Adidas weighed a variety of options for what to do with the leftover $1.3 billion (or 1.2 billion euros) worth of Yeezy product, which was projected to yield a potential 500 million euros (or $537 million) hit to operating profit.

Three months after Adidas announced Rupert Campbell was stepping down as president of North America, the athletic giant has found his successor.

The company, which is in the midst of a turnaround effort, said on Monday that it has appointed John Miller as president of Adidas North America, effective immediately. Miller will be based in Portland, Ore. In this role, Miller will be tasked with overseeing operations in the United States and Canada, and report to Arthur Hoeld, Adidas executive board member responsible for global sales.

Miller, who has worked for Adidas in sales leadership roles in the past, most recently served as SVP of wholesale for Puma. His career also includes stops at Nike, G-Form and Salomon, where he held leadership positions in sales, marketing, wholesale and merchandising.

“We are happy to welcome John back to Adidas as our new president of North America. John is a consumer-driven leader who has a strong record of success in executing growth strategies, repositioning and accelerating brands throughout his career,” Hoeld said in a statement. “John is passionate about people and building a strong team-based culture. We are confident that his deep knowledge of the U.S. marketplace along with his ability to build and lead effective teams will foster growth in North America.”

Miller is replacing Campbell, who had two separate tenures with Adidas. Campbell’s most recent stint began in 2018, assuming the managing director Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan before being named president of North America in January 2022. WWD learned in October 2023 that Campbell was leaving Adidas “to pursue other opportunities.”

There has been a lot of movement in Adidas’ leadership ranks in recent years. Most notably, Adidas announced in November 2022 that former Puma CEO Bjørn Gulden would become its next CEO, and the executive just concluded his first year on the job.

About the Author

Peter Verry is the Senior News and Features Editor for Athletic and Outdoor at Footwear News. He oversees coverage of the two fast-paced and ultracompetitive markets, which includes conducting in-depth interviews with industry leaders and writing stories on sneakers and outdoor shoes. He is a lifelong sneaker addict (and shares his newest purchases via @peterverry on Instagram) and spends most of his free time on a trail. He holds an M.A. in journalism from Hofstra University and can be reached at peter.verry@footwearnews.com.