Adidas CEO Sees Sneakers and T-Shirts in Back-to-Office Fashion

Adidas AG’s Kasper Rorsted doesn’t yet understand how much his employees will keep working at home in the a long time, but he’s confident those at other companies will start resembling his sportswear-clad staff.

“It’s likely to be very difficult to persuade people that contain been sitting in the home in flip flops and a jogging suit to get into brown shoes and a normal suit,” the principle executive officer of the German company said on a call with reporters Friday.

Rorsted is predicting that the world’s back-to-the-office trend -- however big it becomes -- is only going to accelerate the acceptance of more everyday clothing in the organization world. That could sustain the boom in demand for sneakers and sports apparel that’s benefited Adidas and rivals including Nike Inc. and Puma SE in the last year.

An increased focus on public health -- and persons eager to leave their homes after months in lockdown -- should propel a long-term boost for Adidas’s running sneakers and hiking gear, he said. “There could be hook slowdown on the sandals, but in the bigger picture, which will be minuscule,” he said.

How about Adidas’s staff, which already had some freedom to home based prior to the pandemic? The U.S. team continues to be working from home right now, along with employees in Europe. In China, many people are back in the office. Decisions will rely upon local safety conditions and regulations, the CEO said.


“The question is, is it the best to home based?” he said. “We will be discussing with this employees through the entire second the main year and early next year to determine what is the right long-term solution.”