Berlin’s main public transport company Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe (BVG) has collaborated with Adidas on limited edition sneakers that double as annual transit passes.
The new Adidas EQT Support 93/Berlin feature a transit pass embedded into the shoes toungues that are styled in a likeness to the BVG annual pass. The shoe also features a camouflage pattern that is seen on the city’s train seats.
Petra Reetz the BVG, who spoke to , was not sure about the collaboration at first, but sees it as a creative way to get more people to use the public transport system:
“The motivation behind the collaboration is really to get young people on to public transport… I said, ‘We are a public transport system, not Michael Jordan’... But in a big city like Berlin, the quality life and quality the air are important. We wanted to tell young people public transport is cool – you don’t need to buy a car.”
Hundreds people, not just sneaker-heads, apparently camped out at the Berlin shoe store Overkill for multiple days in order to get their hands on the new collaboration. A major draw might have been the price the shoes. The shoes cost €180, but the annual BVG pass costs €728.
Find our more on the new Adidas trainers
Harrison is Mixmag's East Coast Editor. Follow him on Twitter