Yahoo News Shoppers camp out for days for limited edition Adidas trainers that double as free transport season ticket worth £650
Shoppers in Berlin camped out for days to get their hands on a pair of limited edition Adidas trainers which had the unusual quirk of an annual £650 (€730) transport ticket sewn into the tongue.
Hundreds of people queued outside shoe stores in the city for several night to try to buy one of just 500 pairs of the shoes which went on sale on Tuesday morning.
The new EQT Support 93/Berlin trainer has come about as the result of an unlikely collaboration between Adidas and BVG, the city’s transport company.
Costing £160 (€180) it uses the same colour pattern that is found on Berlin’s subway seats.
Adidas is selling the shoes to coincide with the 90th anniversary of the Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe (BVG) public transport company.
The shoes – an updated version of the EQT shoes originally launched in 1993 that were popular with east Germans after the fall of the Berlin Wall – have a season ticket valid for 2018, normally worth €730, sewn into the tongue of the shoes.
"How cool is that?" said BVG chairwoman Sigrid Nikutta. "It's great that the BVG, which is celebrating its 90th birthday this year, is now becoming a style icon itself."
The Berlin public transport company has revamped its image in recent years with a series of quirky ads and social media campaigns that have gone viral.
It already sells bags and other accessories with its swirling red, black and blue seat pattern.
"I already have a buyer who will pay €850," said Nikita Dutschenko, a young man who said he was missing school to wait in line with dozens of others who camped out overnight in sub-zero temperatures. "You can make good money out of it."
Steven Fischer was the first person to get his hands on a pair of the sneakers after camping at the front of the queue outside the Overkill store in Berlin since Friday.
Rival Nike has previously collaborated with the London Underground on several sneaker lines using its patterns and fonts, including to mark its 150th anniversary in 2013.
