adidas Underwear x Richy Calafiori Drop 1 Campaign

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Completed:

February 2025

Agency:

U DOX

For the launch of adidas Underwear's Active Flex collection, I art directed the brand's first-ever underwear campaign fronted by Arsenal defender Riccardo Calafiori and shot by legendary British photographer Ewen Spencer.

The campaign marked an important moment for adidas Underwear, introducing Riccardo as the brand's first underwear ambassador. Chosen not just for his performance on the pitch, but for his sense of style and self-expression away from it, the brief was about revealing a more personal side of one of football's most talked-about new talents.

One of the biggest creative challenges was navigating adidas' authenticity guidelines. Traditional football imagery felt too expected, while showing underwear in an on-pitch environment wasn't a credible option. Our solution was to build a gritty five-a-side football narrative inspired by the culture that exists around the game rather than within it. We focused on the moments before, after, and in between: arriving at the cage, changing with friends, kicking a ball around, and hanging out long after the final whistle.

Shot through Ewen Spencer's unmistakable lens, the campaign captured Riccardo in a way audiences hadn't seen before – confident, charismatic, and effortlessly himself. The result felt raw and intimate, balancing performance with personality while putting the product's comfort, movement, and fit at the heart of the story.

Roles

– Strategy
– Creative Ideation
– Art Direction
– Retouch Notes
– Storyboarding
– Script Writing
– Grade Approach
– Sound Approach
– Social Ideation

© 2026

IMOGEN WILSON