Growing up, brands like adidas, Champion and New Balance were viewed as less superior to Nike and Under Armour. As Michael Scott would say, “How the turntables.” These brands are skyrocketing. From celebrities to elementary school students, everyone is rocking new adidas kicks and repping the oversized “C” on their t-shirts and hoodies.

Stores like Urban Outfitters, Free People and Pacsun have been selling these brands with their main target of buyers being teenagers with hipster styles. Boys and girls alike are supporting these new and improved styles that these brands have been producing.

“When I was younger, Champion and adidas seemed like weird brands to me that I would never wear,” said junior Grant Loudenback. “Now, they are the two brands that I wear the most.”

There are many different reasons that adidas, Champion and New Balance have been trendy lately. Public figures doing collaborations with brands, such as Kylie Jenner with Puma and Kendrick Lamar with Reebok, advertises the brand and brings in a new audience. Then the celebrities post many pictures and videos on social media to hype the clothing, making it the next big thing.

“I saw cool people like Travi$ Scott and my dad wearing adidas and Champion and I just thought they looked really cool in it,” said Loudenback. “I decided to try to dress like the GloudMcCloud.”

But what has changed since we were young and these brands were lame? These brands have reinvented themselves. adidas and Champion used to be exclusively sportswear, but they have expanded their horizons.

“I think these brands have become more popular because they have all changed their styles to more casual wear instead of just sportswear,” said junior Ryley Heier.

The bottom line is that these new cool brands are keeping up with the times. They are changing their styles often and are always coming out with the next big style or trend. They promote it well and often times the prices are ridiculously cheap so people, especially teenagers, can afford it.

“I feel lately brands like adidas and Champion have put out clothing that everyone can like,” said junior Ian Selzler. “The new style they are putting out is simple, but unique in many small ways that make them stand out more than other popular brands, like Nike.”

During the middle school years, students would have never imagined wearing these trendy brands in just a few short years. These brands have made strong moves to become relevant once again. Although risky, these decisions have paid off.

“Fila, Reebok, Juicy Couture, Champion and Puma are just a few of the brands that are in the midst of a revival lately,” said junior Erik Rossing. “I think what makes them so popular is the fact that many of these brands are doing collaborations with high fashion brands such as Vetements and Gosha Rubchinskiy. This opens up these new brands to a whole new crowd of people and gives off the image that they are recreating their image to a modern take.”