By Sara Germano 

A collaboration with Kanye West has brought some buzz back to Adidas AG in fashion circles. Now, the sportswear company is betting the rapper also can drive sales of clothes and shoes for the basketball court or football field.

Adidas is expected to announce Wednesday that it is expanding its partnership with Mr. West to include performance gear and a new line of co-branded retail stores. The German company is trying to boost sales, particularly in the U.S., where it has lagged far behind rival Nike Inc., by bringing the Grammy winner's designs to the mass market.

Last year, Adidas introduced apparel and high-end sneakers designed by Mr. West in limited quantities -- notably $350 gray suede high-tops called the Yeezy Boost 750 that have been selling for thousands of dollars on the secondary market. The company declined to provide sales figures for the Yeezys, though Adidas's share of the more than $1 billion secondary market jumped from 1% to 30% since the shoes were introduced in February 2015, according to market tracker StockX, formerly known as Campless.

It is unclear how well Mr. West's fashion brand will translate to athletes looking for performance footwear. In an interview, Mr. West said he hopes to get his sneakers on the feet of players for the National Basketball Association and the National Football League, though Adidas added no such plans are in place yet.

"Our industry is so ready for disruption, the same signature lines have X player, Y player, Z player, so of course we're going to have Kanye work with our guys to challenge that as well," said Eric Liedtke, chief marketing officer for Adidas.

Mr. West said he played football, basketball, tennis and volleyball in high school, but that singing and performing are also athletic. "I'm not just a musician singing in front of a mic, we are running, jumping, we're getting hurt," he said. "We're in the same arenas that the ballplayers play in."

Adidas said it would separate the Adidas + Kanye West line into its own business unit. It will have dedicated staff based at the company's U.S. headquarters in Portland, Ore., similar to Nike's line for basketball star Michael Jordan. Financial terms of the partnership weren't disclosed.

Locations and opening dates of Adidas + Kanye West retail stores have yet to be determined, the company said. Mr. West's sportswear products also are expected to be sold at some existing retail partners, such as Foot Locker Inc., though specific plans also weren't yet available.

Until recently, offering a performance line to a nonathlete was almost unheard of in the sportswear industry, but the rise of athleisure has upended tradition. Dick's Sporting Goods Inc. launched a collection of activewear with singer Carrie Underwood, and actress Kate Hudson started her own Spandex collection, Fabletics.

Traditional sportswear makers have done limited collaborations with entertainers, including Nike with actor Kevin Hart and Puma with singer Rihanna. On recent earnings conference calls, Foot Locker has pointed to the success of the Rihanna line and other casual gear, while sales of signature basketball shoes for star athletes such as LeBron James have slumped.

Adidas sales rose 5% in North America last year, bringing in about $3 billion, while Nike sold about $15 billion in the region for the fiscal year ended May 31. The German company has ramped up spending on U.S. sports endorsements, but most of its success has been in sales of retro-casual shoes such as Stan Smith and Superstar sneakers.

Mr. West said part of his rationale for working with Adidas is to reshape its retail presence. "We have masterminds. working on e-com [e-commerce], pop-up stores, whatever is the next frontier, whether that's app purchasing or something else," he said. "I'm really happy to be in the middle of those conversations. I think I do have some ability to count cards on where things end up."

Mr. West and Mr. Liedtke said they were both inspired by the performance of Mr. James, the NBA Finals MVP who brought the Cleveland Cavaliers their first championship earlier this month, ending a 52-year title drought for the city. "Even though he's a Nike guy," Mr. Liedtke said, "I gotta say it's still a great story."

Write to Sara Germano at sara.germano@wsj.com

 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 29, 2016 05:44 ET (09:44 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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