Key Points
- Pharrell unveiled the adidas VIRGINIA Watermoc, nicknamed the "Starfish," at Paris Fashion Week
- It revives the adidas Equipment Water Moc, a water-sports shoe first released in 1997
- A new midfoot strap and elastic cord wrap the foot for a more secure fit
- It joins Pharrell's VIRGINIA line of reworked adidas archive silhouettes
Pharrell keeps digging through adidas's archive, and this time he pulled up something amphibious. During Paris Fashion Week, his Skateboard imprint unveiled the VIRGINIA Watermoc — nicknamed the "Starfish" — a modern reworking of the adidas Equipment Water Moc that first surfaced in 1997.
The bones are faithful to the original water shoe: a lightweight technical upper built for wet conditions sits on a low-profile rubber outsole made for traction on slick surfaces. Pharrell's signature addition is a midfoot strap that runs from the medial side of the collar, wraps across the foot, and cinches on the lateral side with an elastic cord — a fix that tightens the fit and gives the otherwise minimal silhouette a distinctive line.
The Watermoc fits a clear pattern in Pharrell's adidas tenure: rather than design from scratch, he mines the brand's late-'90s outdoor and Equipment catalog and re-presents technical gear as fashion. It is the same instinct behind the rest of his VIRGINIA line, from the adiSTAR-based Jellyfish on down — archive silhouettes reworked with a designer's eye and a runway debut, betting that the story of where a shoe came from is half of what sells it. SneakerNews reports the "Starfish" is expected to arrive in September at a $220 MSRP across five colorways — red, yellow, blue, green, and black — though adidas has not confirmed a firm release date.
Source: SneakerNews, SneakerNews
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