THE FUTURE IS CLASSIC || Adidas Originals’ Shanghai Flagship Turns Retail Into Performance
Who says trying on sneakers can’t feel like stepping onto a stage? In Adidas Originals’ flagship on Anfu Road, shopping is re-scripted as performance art.
Somewhere between a retail store and a theatre, the Adidas Originals Flagship on Anfu Road, Shanghai, stages its own kind of performance. Set within the shell of the historic Yongle Cinema, the project reimagines what a flagship can be: not just a place to buy sneakers, but a stage where heritage, culture, and community play out in real time.
Designed by TOMO DESIGN, the 350-square-metre space takes the brand’s motto of “classic forward” and pushes it beyond marketing into spatial storytelling. The preserved cinema structure anchors the project in memory, while the brand’s bold gestures—a Trefoil island, modular kinetic arms, and pixelated light installations—propel it into the future.
At the heart of the space, a sculptural Trefoil island becomes more than a display—it’s a stage where product and performance converge.
A façade that speaks in stripes
From the street, the flagship signals its presence with three vertical windows, a subtle nod to Adidas’ iconic stripes. Blue glass and patterned stainless steel create a contemporary rhythm across the historic building’s shell, while a glowing Trefoil set into the façade serves as both a beacon and an invitation. At the corner, a monumental “Shell Toe” sculpture, scaled to cinematic proportions, reminds passersby that this is no ordinary store. It is a stage for culture.
Three vertical windows cut through the historic façade, a subtle nod to Adidas’ iconic stripes. With its glowing Trefoil and cinematic Shell Toe installation, the building feels both familiar and freshly staged for a new era.
Retail as choreography
Inside, the store unfolds like a script in three acts. The ground floor opens as a fashion playground: an expansive, industrial shell softened with layered lighting and interactive installations. At its centre, a sculptural Trefoil display doubles as a performance stage, anchoring the space with brand symbolism. Products are no longer simply displayed; they are spotlighted, framed, and given narrative weight.
The “front room” extends the performance with a kinetic installation inspired by old Shanghai’s louvred shutters. Mechanical arms fold and rotate in shifting formations, creating a spectacle that is as photogenic as it is immersive. In a neighbourhood where social media drives cultural presence, these moving installations are designed to be captured, shared, and remembered.
Customization as act two
Further along, the MADE FOR YOU zone glows in pixelated light, echoing the digital DNA of contemporary street culture. Here, customization is elevated into a ritual: retro embossed glass is etched with the Trefoil, complemented by metallic supports, while DIY stations invite visitors to imprint their own style onto the brand. The act of personalization becomes a performance in itself, bridging global branding with individual identity.
Pixelated lights and DIY stations turn customization into ritual, where global branding meets personal expression.
A loft of inspiration
Upstairs, the narrative shifts tone. The Inspiration Loft draws from Shanghai’s Haipai heritage, layering custom Trefoil-embossed glass with wood veneer platforms and stainless steel modular displays. Here, the choreography slows, inviting exploration and self-styling.
The shoe gallery, with its blue carpet and mirrored surfaces, carries the energy of street culture into a more refined, gallery-like setting. Linear lights inspired by skateboard axles span the ceiling, creating a “hovering street playground” overhead. Footwear is arrayed like artifacts, each pair narrating a fragment of Adidas’ dialogue with global youth culture.
Skateboard-inspired lighting spans the ceiling, casting a “hovering playground” over neatly arrayed footwear. Street culture reinterpreted as gallery display.
From browsing to performance
Even the fitting rooms extend the theme of retail as theatre. On the ground floor, mirrors and lighting panels transform the act of trying on clothes into a ritual of self-exploration. Upstairs, futuristic metallic walls and blue carpeting amplify the sense of immersion. In both, the visitor is cast as performer, completing the arc from browsing to embodiment.
In the fitting rooms, mirrors, textures, and lighting transform the try-on process into a ritual of self-discovery; proof that even the private moments of retail can feel like performance.
A flagship that speaks Shanghai
What makes this project remarkable is not only its spectacle but its sensibility. Every detail is a dialogue: between past and present, global and local, stagecraft and retail. By weaving Shanghai’s historic textures into a thoroughly contemporary brand environment, Adidas Originals turns its flagship into more than a store. It becomes a performance space where culture is consumed, shared, and created anew.
PROJECT DETAILS
Project Name: ADIDAS ORIGINALS OFS 311 ANFU RD
Clients: ADIDAS
Location: Shanghai, China
Area: 350㎡
Completion time: April 2025
Design Studio: TOMO DESIGN, TO ACC
Chief Designers: Uno Chan, Xiao Fei
Cooperative Design: Linus, Psyun, Sirry, Jason
Decoration Design: Tin, Evan
Brand Promotion: Xiao Fei, Yuu, Tuantuan, Sunshine PR
Photography: Free Will Photography
Videography: Y3 Studio
