Pharrell Williams handing me my pair of the adidas Originals Hu NMD pre-Holi might sound like a “click-bait title” on a ShoeTuber’s channel. But it is exactly what happened.

There were 2 drops of the Pharrell Williams Hu NMD – The Blank Canvas and then the rest of the collection (Black, Multi Colored X 2) on the 1st of March which was much ahead of the global release date of 16th March. This was done with the intention of keeping it true to the Indian festival of colors, Holi. Besides, Pharrell was down in Bombay at the adidas Originals store to sign off a few pairs for his fans. India finally had early pairs of the sneaker!

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Ever since I saw the Black pair teased sometime last year, I wanted to get my hands on them. Because this was perhaps the first time India was being represented on a sneaker, globally. Although the Devanagari text put-off a few “Sneakerheads”, I fell in love. When news broke that Pharrell would be in India on the 1st, (back then it was announced that the rest of the pairs would only hit shelves on the 16th) I wanted him to sign off a pair. And since I never picked up any of his NMD (except the Superstar) I had to cop the Blank Canvas.  I got to the store but as luck would have it, copped my pair online with help from a dear fellow Sneakerhead.

Along with the announcement that Pharrell Williams would be in India, adidas Originals invited me to a Holi Party to celebrate with him. In my head I was like “If he made these sneakers themed on Holi, I might as well wear them to the party he is going to be at”. But first, came the drop of the other colorways. I lucked out with the “alleged” friends and family pair and also got Pharrell to sign the box (not the shoes because I wanted to rock them) in Hindi.

And then came the day of the adidas Originals Holi Party with Pharrell Williams. I had a splitting headache and the party began at 10 AM. Yup, Holi is celebrated from 7 AM and is not a night scene. You know, daylight and bright colors? I tried sleeping off my headache but when I couldn’t I decided to wing it and got to the venue at 1 PM. Considering the party got over at 3 PM, I had missed much of the action. Especially the chance to flex my powder dyed (for real) Holi Hu NMD in front of Pharrell. But adidas Originals knows how to throw a party and I had a bloody amazing time with the rest of the community for the time I was there.

As is evident from the images.

All images shot on my beat up iPhone 6.

How did you celebrate Holi, let me know in the comments. Would you wear the adidas Originals X Pharrell Williams Holi Hu NMD to celebrate? Or was it a stupid decision?

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