Adidas has bounced back from its split with Kanye West almost four years ago.
Now, it faces a new challenge: sustaining that momentum in an increasingly tough sportswear market.
During an onstage interview at the Fast Company Innovation Festival in New York on Sept.
17, Adidas CEO Bjørn Gulden and Marc Makowski, who oversees product innovation, laid out the blueprint of their turnaround, from moving authority out of headquarters to bringing more athletes directly into the company’s labs.
Adidas severed its lucrative Yeezy partnership with West in October 2022 following his antisemitic remarks, leaving the brand stuck with over $1 billion in unsold inventory.
The fallout led to Adidas’ first annual net loss in more than three decades in 2023.
It returned to profitability the following year, and in 2025, its revenue climbed back to a record $28 billion.
Gulden said part of the recovery required shifting decision-making power away from corporate headquarters.
“We had too many layers of people that said, ‘No,’” Gulden said.
“We had too much power in headquarters.” Germany is Adidas’ home market, but it accounts for only a small share of its business, Gulden said.
“Markets like Japan, Korea, and I have to also say, China, [have] the same amount of innovation and energy” in terms of “storytelling and product as we have in Germany,” Gulden said.
“It was really to let the good people [breathe] and let the second, third and fourth layer of the company get to the top.” Adidas also prioritized putting athletes back at the center of its development process.
“I inherited a lab that came across a bit as a museum,” Makowski said.
“Every day we don’t have an athlete in here is a problem.” Makowski has worked at Adidas for more than 21....
