When you speak to Carla Murphy, SVP/Global General Manager, Adidas Outdoor - Adidas Terrex & Five Ten, you notice a certain passion and intensity that comes across even in a video call. When it comes to her work in the Outdoor industry, she has the energy to push things forward and inspire people to get into the outdoors. After a philosophical chat about what “the Outdoors” is nowadays and what it could be in the future, the attention turned to more business-related questions, including wholesale and DTC strategies.
After leadership positions at Nikita, Amer Sports and Icebreaker, Murphy joined Adidas in 2020 and has a clear vision of Adidas Terrex’s place in the Outdoor industry and where it will stand in the future. On the eve of OutDoor by ISPO, we are pleased to share an interview from our sister publication, Outdoor Industry Compass. We talk about the brand’s sustainable business and athlete partnerships, Adidas Terrex’s place within the Adidas brand, and how the technical apparel and footwear specialists plan to connect more people with nature.
Adidas Terrex was launched around 15 years ago. How do you think that the Outdoor sector has evolved since then?
Carla Murphy: Overall, the biggest shift we see is from sports outdoors to Outdoor as a way of life. This has always been the case for many enthusiasts for decades, but in recent years there has been a surge in more people getting outside, largely driven by the pandemic. And this has really created a movement towards backyard adventures as well as those more endurance-led outdoor sports, which are all growing in consumer appeal.
Another big shift is the demand for greater inclusivity and sustainability in the Outdoors. There has been a lot of progress in this space, but there’s always more still to do. At Adidas Terrex, we ultimately believe that the more humans we can enable to get outside and experience the power of nature, the more humans we have connected to driving betterment for people, communities and the planet.
Carla Murphy: “Adidas Terrex wants to connect more people to the Outdoors”
In terms of the outdoor industry, what do you think has changed?
There are many shifts the industry is facing. And adapting to the changing environment and consumer demand is a constant and critical to driving ongoing relevancy and meaningful relationships.
Outdoor sports continue to attract many outdoor sports lovers across a myriad of all-year-round activities; many new influences are coming from outside of the industry and are reshaping some of the narratives and expectations.
New technologies, increased focus on fact-based environmental initiatives, greater inclusivity, doing more with less, upcycling, repair and renew, and design-led collaborations – these are all shifts driven by an increasing rise of Outdoor as a trend, but also by the increasingly conscious consumer. Product innovation isn’t the only thing in demand, but also how the end-to-end experience and value creation of a brand’s proposition comes to life.
I love the new energy of how people are embracing adventures on their terms and not waiting to be invited to join the Outdoors when the Outdoors is already a place for all.
And how does this relate to Adidas Terrex? What “work” does your brand do?
Everything we do at Adidas Terrex is underpinned by our brand purpose, that through sport, we have the power to change lives. And where we add to that is to focus on connecting more people more meaningfully into the Outdoors through the Terrex proposition. What this means is that Adidas Terrex is a gateway to creating connections, partnering with communities, platforms and partners, all with the shared goals of removing the barriers to entry into the Outdoors and creating an equitable fair play approach for all.
Last year, we launched a consumer communication platform called United By Summits. It promotes the idea that not all summits are the same, and it speaks to the individuality and accessibility of people realizing their own summits, whatever they are, and Terrex looks to support people on this journey.
Partnerships are critical to us; it’s all about working with like-minded humans and communities and collectively looking to drive positive change. One partnership kicked off last year was with EOFT (European Outdoor Film Festival). We share the same values of creating greater democracy for all humans in the outdoors, and the platform also enables more people to be more aware of what’s happening in their local areas. It’s really inspiring.
Then and now, Adidas Terrex focuses on working with athletes
How does that result in your products?
Adidas has the best athlete science and innovation centers that there are, and at Terrex, we leverage this to enable our athletes to drive the next innovation in technical performance footwear and apparel.
Adidas Terrex was launched in 2012, rooted in technical credibility. The early days included working with Reinhold Messner on his Everest Base Camp hiking boot, through to a long-standing partnership with the Huber brothers, who were involved in the first technical first apparel collection ten years ago. We have continued this journey of athlete co-creation and still build on these foundations in everything we do to create the fastest, most technical and most comfortable solutions for outdoor adventures.
The concepts that we create with our athletes then go on to inspire our collections so that consumers benefit from what the athletes create, which is performance-led and sustainability-driven apparel and footwear solutions – all designed across an architecture that enables accessibility for more people to experience the outdoors at a price they can afford, as well as driving credibility of technicity through fit, function and feature set, designed for those higher-up mountain sports.
Adidas as a brand provides the sporting performance and technical credibility to the proposition, and Terrex brings a new narrative to the industry, focusing on community, and connectivity and challenging the norms and expectations through working with real humans and focused on purposeful partnerships.
Murphy: “Terrex creates some of the most technical apparel and footwear solutions for Adidas”
Does this strategy/philosophy lead to a more relevant position for Terrex in the Adidas universe?
Outdoor is not new to Adidas, but it’s fair to say we have been in and out of the industry over time. Now with the arrival of Adidas Terrex, we have a clear proposition for the consumer, customers, partners and athletes, as well as our internal teams.
Terrex creates some of the most technical Apparel and Footwear solutions for the brand, creating technical materials and new sustainability solutions that are also then able to be leveraged across other business areas.
I’m excited about the progress we’ve made to date and even more excited for what’s to come working with the best athletes and partners out there. We’re just getting started!
You have a very wide understanding of the Outdoors – from skiing to classic outdoor style and far into the fashion segment. How do you differentiate that, especially when considering that other Adidas sub-brands are focusing on, for instance, fashion?
Adidas Terrex is a label within the Performance category of Adidas; this means our first and only focus is creating technical apparel and footwear that inspires and delights the consumer on their adventures, whatever they may be.
And what is it? Can you summarize it?
As mentioned earlier, the industry has evolved. So as we create and design to meet the ever-changing consumer needs, we also consider wearability, longevity, functionality, and style. This includes design attributes that come from our three-stripe DNA and all of this results in the Adidas Terrex product proposition.
Our primary areas of focus are about surrounding the consumer before, during and after their activities with a focus on designing technical apparel and footwear for hiking, trail running and snow sports. We know that there’s a need to create technically versatile products, too, that can be rotated across sports and adventurers. This is a key component of our product strategy and how we also think of creating more consciously at the outset of the design process to help minimize waste.
Murphy: “Performance credibility and authenticity in our communities are critical”
You said there’s more to come in 2024. Tell me more about that …
Every season we build upon our key franchises in footwear and invest in our Technical Apparel proposition. This will start to come to life even more in 2024. In past seasons, we’ve not always had the consistency needed, but from FW23 and through 2024, this is a priority. And you will see us start to bring collections to market that are more evergreen, that focus on all-year-round activities and that enable greater recognition of Adidas Terrex.
And how will you evolve? Can you describe it?
Performance credibility and authenticity in our communities are critical. In product, we are always focused on how we can do better, and make better, in every step of the creation process. Either through designing out elements or creating new, better materials for performance and sustainability.
A key priority of the proposition is to create access. So we also create a variety of price points to meet the needs of consumers, whatever their entry level. It’s important to keep the energy and excitement throughout all price tiers for the consumer, and this is something we also focus on, working closely with feedback from our consumers and wholesale partners.
Let’s dive a little deeper into the topic of sustainability. What progress have you made or will you make in the next few seasons?
We’re on target to have nine out of ten articles made fully from recycled polyester by 2025. From a category perspective, we’ve achieved that brand target ahead of time, which is really encouraging.
The entire end-to-end road map for Adidas Terrex Technical Footwear and Apparel includes not only innovation in terms of sustainability but also innovation in materials that can reconstitute what we are using today, to drive constant progress and betterment, replacing and updating key franchises and collections to make them better. We focus on biosynthetic innovations, more nature-made materials, and lyocell replacement for parts of shoes as well as exploring different EVAs and midsoles.
Part of the strategy is working with the best partners to drive the best possible progress, be that with Gore-Tex and the launch of our Snow EPe suit in FW22 and launching again in FW23 and FW24, or with Spinnova to create new solutions through innovative manufacturing processes.
We continue to partner with a variety of pioneering technical high-performance partners in this space; we know we are stronger together on the subject of sustainability advancements in materials.
Adidas Terrex with a wholesale-oriented strategy
So, you have a new CEO who has a more wholesale-oriented strategy. Are there shifts in strategy?
Building the Terrex proposition together with our wholesale partners is key and has always been. It’s always been part of our plan and strategy. If anything, it’s become even more focused, more important, and I think that’s exciting.
It’s not always easy to have two dimensions; the DTC world and the wholesale world. But from opening our flagship store in Munich and the partners that we work with in specialty retail, the feedback was, “This is amazing!” What they take from these footprints is our intent to be in this industry in a meaningful way that enables mutual growth, shows commitment, delights the consumer and supports the local areas where community activation is a key component of the Terrex store.
Five Ten will be “reinjected”
This is also resulting in a lot of new shops like the one in Salzburg …
This year, we opened in Kitsilano in Vancouver, Salzburg, and later this year, we will open our second store in Chile. We also have a store in Peru, located in Lima. Additionally, we have pop-ups in Chamonix and Portland with the primary goal of raising awareness of the Terrex proposition, product and community experience.
A key focus for 2023 and 2024 working with our wholesale partners is adapting the Terrex concept for our partners to leverage, creating a Terrex shop-in-shop experience with added community activation. We’ve already launched a few of these, and they look fantastic!
Finally, what’s the plan for Five Ten?
We’re super excited to have spent a lot of time at the beginning of this year to reinject the energy into the footwear and apparel of Five Ten. We still have a huge roster of climbing and cycling athletes, and we continue to play in both of those segments.
The latest news is: Yes, watch this space. The brand of the brave hasn’t gone anywhere, and we’re excited to focus on the next chapter, more to come at the end of the year.
