You know the dad sneaker. Chunky. Comfortable. Slightly embarrassing at a fancy restaurant. Well, adidas and Melbourne-based retailer Up There just looked at that brief and said: "What if we made it obscenely luxe?"
The result is a Consortium collaboration built around adidas' most dependably unfussy silhouette, draped head-to-toe in black and dressed up in premium materials that make it feel less "Saturday barbecue" and more "art gallery opening where everyone pretends not to know what things cost."
Melbourne's fingerprints are all over this
Up There isn't just slapping its logo on a pair of trainers and calling it a day. According to Highsnobiety, the collab draws direct inspiration from Melbourne itself - a city with a well-earned reputation for dark aesthetics, serious coffee, and a fashion culture that treats monochrome like a religion.
That DNA shows. The blacked-out execution feels intentional rather than lazy, the kind of "stealth wealth" approach that makes sneakerheads stop mid-scroll and actually look twice. No rainbow colourways. No loud branding. Just premium materials doing the quiet talking.
Consortium means it's not for everyone - and that's the point
The Consortium tag is adidas' signal that a release is playing in a different league. Limited distribution, elevated construction, the whole deal. This isn't a pair you're grabbing off a shelf at your local sports chain. It's a pair you track down, which - let's be honest - only makes it more desirable.
There's something almost poetic about taking the sneaker archetype most associated with dads in cargo shorts and running it through a luxury filter until it comes out looking like something a Melbourne architect would wear to a dinner party. The joke lands better because the shoe actually delivers.
Why this matters beyond the hype
Dad sneakers have been "back" for so long they never really left, but collabs like this one show there's still genuine creative territory to explore in the silhouette. The Up There x adidas partnership isn't chasing trends - it's rooting the design in a specific place and a specific attitude, which gives it a legitimacy that a lot of hype releases frankly lack.
If you've ever wanted a sneaker that looks like it could survive both a Melbourne winter and an opening night, this might be your moment. Just don't expect to find them easily - that's precisely the point.
