Adidas announce exhibition coming to Darwen to celebrate 10 years of the Spezial

Adidas have announced an exhibition coming to Darwen, Lancashire to celebrate 10 years of their SPZL shoe range.

The event, which is called DECADE, will run from May 17 to 26 in Darwen town centre at 14 Market Street.

Featuring the complete Adidas SPZL footwear archive, this retrospective exhibition will showcase vintage design references, unseen samples, technical drawings, signed footwear and a large selection of rare Adidas SPZL artefacts.  

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To further celebrate SPZL’s 10th anniversary year, there will be intimate headline performances from Shaun Ryder’s Black Grape with a DJ set from Mani (The Stone Roses) on Friday May 17 and Stereo MC’s on Saturday May 18 at neighbouring venue Level 1. 

Blunt Shank - a bespoke Shoemaker, designer and restorer will be hosting a 5 day educational program for local students in partnership with Blackburn Museum and Art Gallery, which celebrates its 150 th anniversary in June. 

On May 22, there will be an intimate screening of past Adidas Spezial films followed by a Q&A with the curator of the range Gary Aspden and SPZL film director Nick Griffiths at the Darwen Library Theatre.  

Spezial curator, Darwen designer Gary Aspden said: “Hosting the DECADE exhibition here in Darwen is a way of putting something back into the community where I grew up.

“This new exhibition will once again attract thousands of people to Blackburn with Darwen and we’re looking forward to running it over the same weekend as Darwen Live – the largest free music festival in the country.”

On Friday May 24, a special release of the new Blackburn SPZL (DECADE pack) X Nightsafe edition shoe will launch exclusively at the exhibition raising funds for youth homelessness charity, Nightsafe. 

This limited-edition shoe is part of the new DECADE pack, a celebratory drop that features four updated bring backs from the Adidas SPZL archive. 

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There will also be a new educational, retrospective Adidas SPZL DECADE book launched at the exhibition which showcases the full archive.

This archive will feature detailed product descriptions, photography and quotes from SPZL’s friends and family including - Liam Gallagher, Vicky McClure, Ashley Walters, Noel Gallagher, Stephen Graham and more. 

Gary said: “Some may question why we would choose to do an exhibition like this in a relatively small town rather than amongst the cultural hub of a major city. 

“There are post industrial towns like Blackburn with Darwen all over the UK and I guess the ambition is to demonstrate what can be possible in towns like this with a bit of investment and imagination.

Admission to the exhibition is free, but donations to Nightsafe are encouraged. Sign up to www.decadespzl.com for further announcements.

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