Adidas Hires Three of Nike's Major Designers

In what's been a major coup for Adidas, the Three Stripes camp has pried away three of Nike's biggest names in footwear design. The trio of Denis Dekovic, Marc Dolce, and Mark Miner are set to join Adidas, as confirmed by Dekovic on his Twitter page. The trio will be heading a creative studio based in Brooklyn next year.

Denis Dekovic held the position of Design Director of Nike Football. He was responsible for the Nike Magista, a revolutionary football cleat that brought Flyknit to the pitch.

As the Design Director of Nike Sportswear, Marc Dolce has been influential in the revival and remixing of classic Nike sneakers. You can thank him for designs such as the Barkleyposite and the continuation of the Air Penny line.

Mark Miner might not get a lot of recognition from casual sneakerheads, but his contributions to the Nike Running shoe program cannot be overlooked. He's credited with the design of the Nike Free Run line, amongst other sneakers.

In a written statement by Paul Gaudio, Global Creative Director of Adidas, the design studio will be "a small but essential operation aimed at exploring design direction for the brand. This facility will be an open source creative center allowing us to connect and collaborate with consumers in a way we've never done before," 

Hiring these three designers is only the latest of a string of big moves from Adidas this year. In my opinion, each one further fortifies diverse areas of Adidas' footwear development. The design studio is an interesting idea. Since the trio is set to head it, I can make out a comparison to Nike's HTM collective, only more open and interactive with consumers. Will we be seeing Dekovic-helmed  cleats on the feet of Adidas' biggest footballing names? Will Mark Miner bring out the next great Adidas running innovation after Boost Technology? And will Marc Dolce churn out riffs on classic Adidas silhouettes, much like the well-received ZX Flux? Only time will tell. But one thing's for sure, we can all expect big things from The Three Stripes next year.