LA’s finest, Menace, have come together with adidas to celebrate all that is good and great about the football culture of the City of Angels. Having already dropped a pair of adidas Superstars, this time out they’ve delivered a pair of shirts, in Halo White and Hora de Oro (Golden Hour, of course) that will fill our dreams with visions of orange skies and pick-up games on baking, sticky streets. To top it all off, the collection features a stunning blue adidas Predator ‘94 rife with so many easter eggs to LA culture. A beauty.

We got to sit down with Steven Mena, the brand's founder, to talk about his journey, LA, watching Ronaldinho, and so much more. Enjoy.

Tell us a little about your journey. What does Menace mean to you?

MENACE is my love letter to my family, my dreams, and the city that raised me.

I started the brand back in 2013 with no roadmap. I just had this belief that if I stayed true to my vision and worked hard enough, I could build something meaningful. I didn't come from fashion. I just wanted to tell stories that felt honest to where I came from.

Over the years, MENACE has become so much bigger than clothing. It's become a vehicle for storytelling. Every collection is another opportunity to document Los Angeles, celebrate the communities that shaped me, and hopefully make people feel seen. If someone can look at something we've made and feel proud of where they come from, then we've done our job.

At its core, MENACE is proof that where you come from doesn't have to define where you end up. It can actually become your greatest strength if you're willing to embrace it.

Describe the design inspiration behind the collection.

Los Angeles was the biggest inspiration behind this collection, along with the World Cup. I really wanted to tell a story about how we're all connected through the same sky and the same sun, no matter where we come from. That became the foundation for everything.

For the jerseys, I pulled a lot from Lowrider and Chicano culture. The Old English LA logo, the pinstripe details, all of that comes from the visual language I grew up around. Then the sun on the back ties it all together. It's really about this idea that we're all standing under the same sun and that this beautiful game has a way of bringing people together every four years, regardless of where you're from, what language you speak, or what your background is.

The shoes have little pieces of LA built into them too. The chain link fence quilting is probably my favorite detail because it reminds me of playing fútbol every day as a kid on the block. You'd hear the ball smack against the fence over and over. The paisley details are another nod to the city and the culture I grew up around. I wanted both the jerseys and the shoes to feel unmistakably like Los Angeles, but in a way that came from real experiences, not stereotypes.

How important is LA culture to it all, and to you?

It's everything to me honestly. It's the foundation of how I think and how I design, whether that's clothing, film, or storytelling. Los Angeles is where I grew up. It's shaped my perspective on the world and pretty much everything I create comes back to this place in one way or another.

What inspires me most are the people and cultures that make this city what it is. LA is one of the most diverse cities in the world and I've always wanted MENACE to reflect that in an honest way. I've never really been interested in chasing trends. I'd much rather look at the neighborhoods, the traditions, the families, the little details, and the everyday life that exists here. I think those are the stories worth telling.

To me, Los Angeles isn't just a backdrop. Every collection is another opportunity to tell a different story about the city that raised me.

I think in this URL era we're living in, everything feels optimized for attention. Likes, views, engagement... it's all instant. But community doesn't work like that. Community is built slowly. It takes time, consistency, empathy, sacrifice, humility, and love. More than anything, it takes showing up for people over and over again.

What is your strongest adidas Predator memory?

Honestly... it's probably deciding which colorways to move forward with for this collection.

We explored a bunch of different directions, and narrowing it down was way harder than people would probably think. It was a good problem to have because I really believe we landed on the right shoe but I'd be lying if I said I don't still think about some of the other versions we made.

Every colourway had its own personality and told a slightly different story. Maybe one day we'll show them. I'd honestly love for people to see some of the ideas that almost made it into the collection.

Why Teamgeist and why Predator ‘94 for the collection? 

Teamgeist felt like the obvious choice because it instantly takes you back to some of the greatest World Cup moments. Those jerseys are timeless. There's so much nostalgia attached to that silhouette and it just felt right for the story we wanted to tell.

The Predator was honestly the easiest decision of the whole project. When the adidas team was walking me through all the footwear options on the line sheet, which was extensive… my eyes immediately went to the Predator. Everyone started laughing because they were like, "We knew you'd pick that one." It wasn't even a decision. I just knew.

My favorite detail has to be the chain link fence quilting on the shoe. That one's really personal. I grew up playing fútbol with my neighbors basically every day and I still remember the sound of the ball hitting the fence, scraping up my legs falling on concrete, and spending hours outside with my neighbors. Oscar, Jessica, Eric, Elias, Ernie, Rolando, Steven... we were out there until the sun went down almost every day after school.

Those are some of my favourite memories growing up and I think that's what good design should do. It should make you feel something. Every time I look at that quilting, it takes me right back to being a kid. It reminds me of why I fell in love with the game in the first place and that's probably my favourite detail in the whole collection.

What does community mean to you?

It's definitely more than a buzzword to me.

I think in this URL era we're living in, everything feels optimized for attention. Likes, views, engagement... it's all instant. But community doesn't work like that. Community is built slowly. It takes time, consistency, empathy, sacrifice, humility, and love. More than anything, it takes showing up for people over and over again.

Whether it's in my personal life or through MENACE, community has always been about real human connection. It's not something you manufacture overnight or measure by attendance numbers. It's definitely not networking for the sake of networking.

Go long with people man. Beautiful things happen.

To me, community is measured by trust. It's the relationships you build, the people who believe in you, and the impact those connections have on each other's lives. Those things can't be measured by an algorithm, and honestly, they're the only metrics I really care about.

FIRST/LAST/EVERYTHING

First World Cup memory: 

Being at my aunt's house in San Bernardino during what I remember as the 2006 World Cup and watching Ronaldinho. He made me believe soccer was magic. I couldn't believe someone could do the things he was doing with a ball.

Last World Cup memory: 

Watching Mbappé. Every time he touched the ball it felt like something was about to happen. I've never been so nervous watching one player. He was an absolute menace.

The World Cup memory that means everything to me: 

Honestly, it's all the time I've spent watching the World Cup with my family and friends. That's what it's really about for me. You could put me on my front porch with an old TV that barely works, but if I'm watching with my brothers, my mom, my dad, or my friends... that's the perfect setup. At the end of the day, it's never just about the soccer. It's about who you get to experience it with.

You can grab yours on July 14th from Menace. You're very welcome.