Hardcore adidas fans set to camp out in Darwen for two nights to bag limited edition trainers

Dedicated followers of fashion are expected to camp out overnight on the streets of Darwen in a bid to bag a pair of limited edition adidas trainers.

Last week an exhibition celebrating 10 years of Darwen-born designer Gary Aspden's Spezial range of trainers for the iconic brand. A lifelong three-stripe fan, Gary previously headed up the Adidas Entertainment Team globally, and created the concept for the label's Spezial trainer range back in 2014.

Over the past 10 years the range has released a host of products that give nods to East Lancashire from the Feniscowles jacket to the Intack SPZL trainers and the Sudell tracksuit. Back in 2019 Gary's team hosted a large-scale adidas exhibition in Blackburn which attracted die-hard Spezial fans from all over the world.

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To mark 10 years of the range a limited edition SPZL trainer - the Blackburn (DECADE pack) has been created, with 100 pairs set to go on sale on Friday (May 24) from the Spezial exhibition in Market Street. Organisers are expecting global adidas fans, desperate to bag a pair of the incredibly limited edition trainers, to camp out from last night (Wednesday May 22).

The new Blackburn SPZL (DECADE pack) X Nightsafe edition trainers feature a unique red leather swing tag and Nightsafe branded sock liner. All proceeds from the sale will go to Nightsafe, a local charity that works with young people who are homeless or are at risk of homelessness and provide accommodation, day centres with information, advice and guidance.

In 2019, when 200 pairs of the limited edition Blackburn SPEZIAL trainers went on sale, thousands of adidas fans queued up in the hope of buying a pair.

Ahead of the opening of the exhibition, designer Gary Aspden said: “Hosting the DECADE exhibition here in Darwen is a way of putting something back into the community where I grew up.

"Some may question why we would choose to do an exhibition like this in a relatively small town rather than amongst the cultural hub of a major city. There are post industrial towns like Blackburn with Darwen all over the UK and I guess the ambition is to demonstrate what can be possible in towns like this with a bit of investment and imagination.

"This new exhibition will once again attract thousands of people to Blackburn with Darwen and we’re looking forward to running it over the same weekend as Darwen Live – the largest free music festival in the country."

The exhibition, supported by Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council, is running daily from noon until 8pm from Friday May 17 to Sunday May 26 at Fourteen, 14 Market Street, Darwen.