Pharrell Brought the Virginia Beach Boardwalk to Korea for Jellyfish Pop-Up Arcade

We’ve heard a lot of talk about Pharrell x adidas Adistar Jellyfish from a sneaker standpoint, but less about the story behind it. With Skateboard P at the helm, and his Virginia brand backing the rollout, you’d expect a focus around the beach, especially given that Williams is a native of Virginia Beach. Even though we’re still waiting for news of a wider release of the Blue colorway of the Jellyfish, adidas and Pharrell brought a beach boardwalk vacation theme to Korea this week, with a pop-up boardwalk arcade adding a new colorway of the shoe and some Virginia Beach energy to Seoul.

Adding another colorway of the Jellyfish in triple black, for this stop on his run of exclusive pop-up releases, Pharrell set up a boardwalk-themed arcade in South Korea. The space is complete with Jellyfish-themed arcade games like Pop-a-Shot and Whack-a-Mole remade in ocean blue. On the second floor of the pop-up, a Jellyfish display shows off every colorway of the hyped shoe, including the new triple-black.

Pharrell brought out an unexpected hit with the $300 bulky retro runner redesigned with massive TPU wings, and the shoe continues to garner sneaker of the year conversation and inspire new colorways of the younger sibling takedown model Adistar XLG 2.0, aka Squid.

If you can make it to the Seoul, South Korea Jellyfish pop-up, you might have an opportunity to buy the shoes, with a rough translation from the adidas Korea Instagram post noting, “Adistar Jellyfish TRIPLE BLACK released for the first time in the world!! Lucky draw 1st player will be given a chance to buy.” Good luck, you’ll need it.

Zach Harris

Zach Harris is a writer based in Philadelphia. His work has appeared in Rolling Stone, Vice, Complex, High Times, and more. He is obsessed with skateboarding and bowling. He is still looking for his first 300. For tips, reviews, and anything in size 10.5 - zach.h@soleretriever.com