We attended adidas Originals Studio in Braamfontein over the weekend (7 and 8 November 2026) at 39 Stanley Avenue, where adidas and Studio88 brought creatives together for two days of learning and making.
What stood out to us was the focus on getting ideas off the ground. The sessions covered questions anyone starting a label would recognize: where do you begin, what will it cost, and how do you make something people want?
Kabelo Kungwane and Alex Zono tackled those questions through Kit Check. Kabelo’s football upbringing and Alex’s experience as a runner and designer brought two perspectives to the conversation. They explored how sport shapes what we wear before getting into product development, budgets, and pricing. We appreciated that the business side got attention alongside the creative ideas.
Meanwhile, Sonia Tona and Zéshaan Haku took a hands-on approach with Build Your Original. Their backgrounds in upcycling and experimental clothing set up a session around reworking adidas garments into bags. Painting, bleaching, stitching and layering gave participants different ways to make each piece their own.
For us, the takeaway was how much you can do with what you already have. Between Kit Check’s advice on building a brand and Build Your Original’s approach to customisation, there was plenty to take back to the sketchbook or wardrobe. It gave us a reason to look again at pieces we might otherwise have left untouched.
See the gallery below:
