In a limited edition series they’re calling Boost the Nation, Adidas teamed up with lifestyle website Refinery 29 to create a custom pair of the brand’s UltraBOOST X running shoe for each of the 50 states. Only one pair of each shoe was created—all designed by female artists—and each will be auctioned off, with all of the proceeds benefiting Women Win, an international charity that works to encourage girls through sports.
Photograph courtesy of Adidas
Georgia’s shoe is . . . well, the same thing our state is always symbolized by nationally: a peach. And it is pretty darn cute. Designed by artist Lizzie Darden, the pinkish-orangish shoe comes with a little plastic leaf hanging off the green shoelaces. But isn’t it a little boring to always be known only for peaches—especially since we produce more peanuts and blueberries than we do fuzzy fruit? Many other states are represented by their usual symbols: Indiana’s is themed to the Indianapolis 500, Wisconsin’s a block of cheese, Oklahoma’s covered in grains of wheat. Others are a bit more obscure: Vermont’s features a fern first discovered in the state, and Texas’s features blue topaz, the state gem. The less on-the-nose designs pose the question—are Texans relieved that their shoe isn’t covered in longhorns and Whataburger, or are they disappointed that the shoe doesn’t scream Texas at first sight?
While always being “that state with the peaches” can get cliche, the peach does give Georgians—including the ones who don’t live in the Atlanta metro area—an easy, universal symbol of “home.” We’d probably miss it if people suddenly stopped using peaches to refer to us.
Want to own these shoes? Upon publication, the bid for the Georgia pair (a women’s size 8) was at $350—one of the higher bids among the 50, but not nearly as high as $1000 for Ohio’s buckeye-themed pair. Bidding runs through tomorrow, so hurry up and gather those funds if you want to add these peachy kicks to your collection.
