BVG and adidas turn a Berlin sneaker into an annual transit pass

BVG needed younger Berliners to respect a no-turnstile transit system and pay for rides. The agency saw that the same anti-establishment culture loved adidas Originals and Berlin streetwear drops.

Make a limited adidas sneaker in BVG seat fabric, then stitch a valid annual transit ticket into the tongue.

Jung von Matt brought BVG and adidas together in late October 2017, adapted the EQT 93/17 with the subway upholstery pattern, transit symbols and a ticket tongue, then released 500 pairs through sneaker culture.

The €180 shoes sold out immediately, carried ticket value worth up to €700, reached 10.6B media impressions and eight in ten Berliners on Facebook, and later resold for as much as €3,500.

Berlin's BVG had a brand problem hiding inside an operations problem. The system depends on rider honesty, but younger Berliners often treated the transit authority as something to mock or dodge.

Jung von Matt's creative leap was to turn BVG's most ordinary visual asset, the camouflage-patterned seat fabric, into fashion currency. adidas Originals made a limited EQT Support 93/Berlin sneaker using the pattern, BVG yellow laces and a tongue that functioned as a valid annual ticket.

The launch behaved like a streetwear drop, not a transport campaign. Hundreds queued outside Overkill before the 16 January 2018 release; only 500 pairs were available, priced at €180 even though a yearly BVG subscription could cost up to €700.

The result made BVG look culturally fluent without pretending to be young. D&AD reported 10.6B media impressions, eight in ten Berliners reached on Facebook, improved perception of BVG modernity and increased season-ticket subscriptions.

The sneaker made ticket payment desirable by turning it into a scarce object.

The seat pattern was deeply local, so the collaboration felt Berlin-specific rather than generic merch.

The annual-pass function gave the shoe a real utility beyond publicity.

A fast three-month production window kept the idea tied to the cultural moment.

If the audience rejects the institution, borrow status from a culture it already respects. The collaboration must change the product, not just the logo.

The Ticket-Shoe became one of BVG's signature brand acts and won global creative recognition, including a D&AD Graphite Pencil and a One Club ADC Bronze Cube. The One Club archive notes that the sold-out sneaker reached cult status and resale prices up to €3,500.