I’m Omar Quiambao, Co-Founder of Commonwealth, along with Larry Incognito. Larry runs the operations side of the business, while I head up design direction for the store, plus Commonwealth's apparel and product lines and collaborations.

I'm not sure it was my first pair of adidas, but the earliest pair I remember was the classic black Samba, which I wore to play community football when I was in primary school. I remember run- ning around the field with high white socks pulled over my shin guards, loving the colour combination of black shoes with white stripes on a gum sole, and the grooves in the tongue. Because of the familiarity and fondness for the shoe, years later, I would eventually use the Samba to skateboard in as well.

I can't recall which store it was, but it was in Virginia Beach in the mid ’80s. Previously, I had usually only been in the ‘sports’ sections in department stores, so the first time I went into an actual sports store, I remember feeling overwhelmed and a bit confused. I didn't know there were so many specific footwear styles for their respective sports.

The adidas Equipment line defined a turning point in the history of the adidas brand, with a new logo and a renewed approach, which focused on the quality of the shoe. The product became the hero, using branding rules that emphasised product quality by restricting colour, sizing and the placement of the logo. For me, seeing that sort of unified repetition and consistency defined Equipment as a movement.

I think it’d be great to see adidas Equipment versions for skateboarding and trail hiking.

All parts of the collaboration process are fulfilling, it’s exciting to see everything develop step by step. Each stage has its highlights, but throughout the journey, the exchange of ideas and points of view, for me, is the best part of collaborating.

Race walking can be seen as an ‘oddity’ within sport, so Commonwealth was inspired to amplify that difference, or what I see as uniqueness. Our aim was to create balance with a range of distinctively textured materials and colours, with a slight nod to some past adidas models, including the Rising Star, the All Odd, and AW Reissue Run.