Las Vegas doesn’t really do “subtle.” Neither does Formula 1. So when adidas and the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team dropped their Las Vegas Collection ahead of the Grand Prix, it wasn’t just another Adidas new campaign—it was a live case study in brand creativity.
Let’s unpack why this collab matters if you work in branding, PR, or anything that touches culture and sport.
Not just fanwear – a three-way culture mashup
On paper, this is an apparel collection: driver caps, tees, sweatshirts, track pants, and track jackets. In reality, it’s a culture stack.
Adidas took:
- The race DNA of Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 (the iconic teal and white team logos)
- Early-2000s Adidas street shoes silhouettes (oversized fits, relaxed shapes)
- Classic U.S. sports cues (that stitched “25” sleeve patch that feels straight out of an NFL jersey)
…and layered them into one story built around the Las Vegas Grand Prix. I am sure it’s reminding you of the Adidas Impossible is Nothing campaign.
The result is fanwear that doesn’t scream “I’m only leaving the closet on race weekend.” It looks like something you could wear to a bar, a campus, or a casual Friday and still feel like you’re in on the F1 hype.
For brands, that’s the first big takeaway:
Design collabs that people actually want to wear off the occasion you’re marketing around.
Adidas New Campaign: Using a city as the creative brief
The collection is framed as a tribute to the “convergence of sport culture and style synonymous with the Las Vegas Grand Prix.”
Instead of doing a generic “F1 collection, season 2025,” adidas zoomed in on one race and one city:
- The darker base fabrics echo a night race.
- Teal and white details are positioned like lights against a black desert sky.
- Rich burgundy and rose-gold tones nod to both Vegas glamour and George Russell’s celebration at last year’s race.
This is clever for two reasons:
- Storytelling becomes plug-and-play.
Every detail—from color to patch placement—is now a talking point for PR, social copy, in-store displays, influencer unboxings, you name it. - They’ve created a repeatable format.
If Vegas gets its own collection, what’s stopping Miami, Austin, Monaco, or Suzuka from getting their own hyper-local drops in future seasons?
For PR agencies, this is gold:
Treat major events as themed “story worlds,” not just dates on a calendar.
Motorcore is having a moment—and adidas knows it
This collab isn’t happening in a vacuum. Motorsport-inspired fashion (a.k.a. motorcore) has been all over runways, TikTok, and celebrity street style—racer jackets, bold graphics, moto boots, and track-inspired sneakers are everywhere.
At the same time:
- Celebs like Kylie Jenner are turning up in full leather motorcore looks during F1 season.
- Adidas has already played in this space with Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS collabs and high-profile moments like the Bad Bunny x Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS partnership, which blended island culture, high fashion, and F1 in Puerto Rico.
- Motorsports-inspired sneakers (like Puma’s Speedcat) are being positioned as the next “it” shoe thanks to F1 hype and Netflix-fueled fandom.
So what’s adidas doing in Vegas?
They’re not just reacting to motorcore—they’re owning their lane inside it, by tying their motorsport category to a specific, cinematic moment on the race calendar and giving fans a fashion-forward way into that trend.
For Marketers:
When a trend is peaking, don’t just copy it. Anchor it in a moment, a place, or a partnership that only your brand can authentically claim.
Fanwear that doubles as fashion
One of the most interesting lines in the press release: the pieces are “style-first” and built for the “grandstands, and beyond.”
That little phrase does a lot of work for the Adidas marketing campaign:
- It quietly tells fans: This isn’t just merch, it’s wardrobe.
- It tells retailers: You can put this in lifestyle sections, not just sports corners.
- It tells PR: We can pitch this to fashion press and culture outlets, not just motorsport blogs.
This is smart category stretching. Adidas is expanding the use case for motorsport gear from “race weekend uniform” to “everyday fit”—without losing the team’s identity.
For PR folks, that’s a positioning lesson:
Add one simple line that expands where and how your product should live in people’s lives.
Little details, big story
The creative magic is in the details:
- The “25” sleeve patch does double duty as a timestamp (2025) and a visual reference to US football jerseys.
- The color blocking and graphics lean into early-2000s streetwear, which syncs perfectly with the wider Y2K nostalgia wave already running through fashion.
- Teal logos and accents pop against deep, inky backgrounds like glowing signage on the strip.
Each of these touches gives content creators talking points:
- Social clips zooming in on the “25” patch and asking fans what it means
- Style reels about “how to wear F1 fanwear off the track”
- UGC campaigns around “Vegas night fits” using the collection
From a brand-creativity standpoint, that’s the real win:
Good design doesn’t just look nice—it gives PR and content teams handles to grab onto.
What brands and PR teams can steal from this play
If we strip the logos off, here’s what adidas and Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS just demonstrated:
- Start with a place, not just a logo.
Build collections and campaigns around cities, venues, or circuits your audience emotionally cares about. - Layer cultures deliberately.
Don’t just collab for the sake of it. Blend specific codes—like early-00s fashion, U.S. sports jerseys, and F1 team colors—into a clear, ownable mix. - Design for life beyond the event.
Make sure at least 70–80% of the collection doesn’t feel like “costume.” If it only works in the paddock, you’re leaving money and relevance on the table. - Give your details a story.
Every patch, color, and graphic should have a reason to exist—one that your PR and social teams can retell in three seconds or less. - Ride the trend, but bring your own engine.
Motorcore is hot, but adidas is tying it to their motorsport category, long-term F1 partnership, and now city-specific drops. They’re not just borrowing the aesthetic—they’re building equity inside it.
Final lap
This drop is a neat reminder that great PR starts at the design table. When the product itself encodes story, culture, and context, your press release almost writes itself—and your campaign doesn’t have to work so hard to make noise.
Vegas may be about what happens in the city, staying there. But this time, the creative blueprint is absolutely worth taking home.
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