adidas brand book

During his career as a designer for adidas, Fritz

Träumer privately filled dozens of notebooks

with his plans to create the most original sneakers

the world had ever seen. Not content for a sneaker

to remain simply athletic or aesthetic, Träumer

dreamed beyond the realm of what is even thought

possible today. More than thirty of his notebooks

have been recovered by adidas from the depths of

various estates, along with a precious and secret

collection of seemingly impossible sneakers that

Träumer quietly made into realities. Herein lays

an inspirational portrait of a visionary of vast

proportions, a celebration of his mesmerising range

of sneaker creations and, perhaps, the precursor to

an unrestricted future of sneaker design.

FriTz TräuMer (1931-?)

During his career as a designer for adidas, Fritz

Träumer privately lled dozens of notebooks

with his plans to create the most original sneakers

the world had ever seen. Not content for a sneaker

to remain simply athletic or aesthetic, Träumer

dreamed beyond the realm of what is even thought

possible today. More than thirty of his notebooks

have been recovered by adidas from the depths of

various estates, along with a precious and secret

collection of seemingly impossible sneakers that

Träumer quietly made into realities. Herein lays

an inspirational portrait of a visionary of vast

proportions, a celebration of his mesmerising range

of sneaker creations and, perhaps, the precursor to

an unrestricted future of sneaker design.

FRITZ TRÄUMER (1931-?)

Adidas_Dreams_LAYOUT_2.indd 2-3 25/8/08 3:56:36 PM

The f irst correspondence between Träumer and the company that welcomed his or iginality. A note from Träumer to his landlord and neighbour in Germering - never delivered.The f irst correspondence between Träumer and the company that welcomed his or iginality. A note from Träumer to his landlord and neighbour in Germering - never delivered.


Fritz Träumer documenting one of his earliest days with adidas and the experience believed to have been the genesis of his cloud design. STurM (STorM)

WATer vApour, ed. 1/1

310 x 140 x 130mm

Fritz Träumer documenting one of his earliest days with adidas and the experience believed to have been the genesis of his cloud design. STURM (STORM)

WATER VAPOUR, ED. 1/1

310 X 140 X 130mm


LuFTSAck (AirbAG)

poLyeSTer bLAdderS WiTh coMpreSSed NiTroGeN, ed. 1/1

300 x 130 x 160mm

John hetrick’s revolutionary air cushion restraint system, developed in 1952 to protect his own family, was a direct

inf luence on Träumer who remodelled the technology to protect something equally as important to him.

LUFTSACK (AIRBAG)

POLYESTER BLADDERS WITH COMPRESSED NITROGEN, ED. 1/1

300 X 130 X 160mm

John Hetrick’s revolutionary air cushion restraint system, developed in 1952 to protect his own family, was a direct

influence on Träumer who remodelled the technology to protect something equally as important to him.


An artist’s illustration torn from the

herzogenaurach public library’s edition

of king Midas and The Golden Touch,

on loan to Fritz Träumer for 48 years.

in his notes regarding the Midas sneaker, Träumer makes the only recorded mention of a

ram sneaker, which is believed to have been a hybrid Merino battering tool.

MidAS

LeATher ANd GoLd, ed. 1/1

300 x 130 x 140mm


Herzogenaurach public library’s edition

of King Midas and The Golden Touch,


In his notes regarding the Midas sneaker, Träumer makes the only recorded mention of a


MIDAS

LEATHER AND GOLD, ED. 1/1

300 X 130 X 140mm



Herzogenaurach public library’s edition

of King Midas and The Golden Touch,


In his notes regarding the Midas sneaker, Träumer makes the only recorded mention of a


MIDAS

LEATHER AND GOLD, ED. 1/1

300 X 130 X 140mm


A keen inventor his whole life, Fritz Träumer Sr. (above) finally achieved minor fame through his patented nose straightening device,

inspiring a doting Träumer Jr. to follow in his father’s unconventional footsteps.

An advertisement for Fritz Träumer Sr.’s

marginally successful ‘Nice-Nose’ straightener.

Fritz Träumer Jr. (far left).

Siegfried Träumer and herr Liebkosung, formerly

belonging to Fritz.






Siegfried Träumer and Herr Liebkosung, formerly

belonging to Fritz.








belonging to Fritz.








belonging to Fritz.








belonging to Fritz.


chAMäLeoN (chAMeLeoN)

LeATher ANd chAMeLeoN, ed. 1/1

350 x 130 x 120mm

Träumer’s fascination with species endemic to their

particular environments led him in 1965 to Antananarivo,

Madagascar. his major discovery there, however, was the

Chameleon, a species common to many parts of the world

and perfectly adept at camouflaging itself through airport

customs checks in Frankfurt.

CHAMÄLEON (CHAMELEON)

LEATHER AND CHAMELEON, ED. 1/1

350 X 130 X 120mm



Madagascar. His major discovery there, however, was the





CHAMÄLEON (CHAMELEON)

LEATHER AND CHAMELEON, ED. 1/1

350 X 130 X 120mm



Madagascar. His major discovery there, however, was the





roboTer (roboT)

NickeL MeTAL hydride ANd MicroproceSSor, ed. 1/1

300 x 130 x 160mm

Following a self-described period of personal creative decline, Träumer’s visionary f lame was reignited by

pioneering developments in the robotics industry of 1973.

ROBOTER (ROBOT)

NICKEL METAL HYDRIDE AND MICROPROCESSOR, ED. 1/1

300 X 130 X 160mm

Following a self-described period of personal creative decline, Träumer’s visionary f lame was reignited by

pioneering developments in the robotics industry of 1973.


SyNTh

LeATher WiTh MicroproceSSor, ed. 1/1

290 x 120 x 160mm

on loan from the private collection of ralf hütter, the synthesiser sneaker is believed to have absorbed more than two years of Träumer’s

life as he trained himself to walk each note of comet Melody 2.

SYNTH

LEATHER WITH MICROPROCESSOR, ED. 1/1

290 X 120 X 160mm

On loan from the private collection of Ralf Hütter, the synthesiser sneaker is believed to have absorbed more than two years of Träumer’s

life as he trained himself to walk each note of Comet Melody 2.


Though believed vacant for more than a decade, Fritz Träumer’s private sneaker workshop

was discovered littered with empty gin bottles and a still smoldering fire.

ANTi-räuber (ANTi-robber)

MAchiNe SpuN MeTAL WiTh MiG WeLdiNG, ed. 1/1

320 x 140 x 220mm

Träumer would often find stimulation through travel and send postcards to himself in herzogenaurach as reminders, brimming

with new ideas. The 1980 New york city transit strike had an unexpected effect upon the traveling Träumer when his alternate route

through the city’s meaner streets motivated one of his boldest sneaker solutions.

ANTI-RÄUBER (ANTI-ROBBER)

MACHINE SPUN METAL WITH MIG WELDING, ED. 1/1

320 X 140 X 220mm

Träumer would often find stimulation through travel and send postcards to himself in Herzogenaurach as reminders, brimming

with new ideas. The 1980 New York City transit strike had an unexpected effect upon the traveling Träumer when his alternate route

through the city’s meaner streets motivated one of his boldest sneaker solutions.

find stimulation through tra

8


bAuM (Tree)

GeNeTicALLy ModiFied Seed, ed. 1/1

310 x 120 x 210mm

originating with the increase in awareness of

global pollution in the 1980s, Träumer’s tree

sneaker was discovered and uprooted from the

garden of his former home more than two decades

after its creation, still in full bloom.

BAUM (TREE)

GENETICALLY MODIFIED SEED, ED. 1/1

310 X 120 X 210mm

Originating with the increase in awareness of






BAUM (TREE)

GENETICALLY MODIFIED SEED, ED. 1/1

310 X 120 X 210mm

Originating with the increase in awareness of






LiMouSiNe

hANd ShAped MeTAL, ed. 1/1

280 x 110 x 130mm

As he steadily began to recede from the outside world, public records

reveal that Träumer failed to renew his driver license in 1987, requiring

him to retake the practical driving test he had passed more than

thirty years prior. in a typical retort against what he would describe

in english as ‘bureau-crazy’, Träumer instead opted to pioneer a new

method of transportation by means of a voice-instructed limousine

at his feet.

LIMOUSINE

HAND SHAPED METAL, ED. 1/1

280 X 110 X 130mm

As he steadily began to recede from the outside world, public records

reveal that Träumer failed to renew his driver license in 1987, requiring

him to retake the practical driving test he had passed more than

thirty years prior. In a typical retort against what he would describe

in English as ‘bureau-crazy’, Träumer instead opted to pioneer a new

method of transportation by means of a voice-instructed limousine

at his feet.


| F R I T Z T R Ä U M E R , E D . 1 / 1 |

INSIDE COVER

The f inal entry in the recovered journals of Fr itz Träumer, whose whereabouts remains

unknown but is speculated to be somewhere entirely or iginal.

The f inal entry in the recovered journals of Fr itz Träumer, whose whereabouts remains

unknown but is speculated to be somewhere entirely or iginal.

Adidas_Dreams_LAYOUT_2.indd 28 25/8/08 3:59:01 PM

OUTSIDE COVER

adidas brand book

Technology