A DIVE INTO THEADIDAS ARCHIVE IN GERMANYRECALLS THE BIRTH OF ADISTAR

Driven by comfort and technical design with just a twist of dad-core vibes, the “tech runner” movement still remains as the king of footwear trends as we head into the latter half of the 2020s. adidas has been no stranger to this category, proffering these once unstylish runners from the 1990s and unearthing these core running models at the right time.
 
Lately, adidas has been putting all the pieces in place to position the Adistar family as one of the pillars of this era. The Adistar Cushion 3 specifically has carved its own lane, setting the framework for Pharrell’s massively popular Jellyfish silhouette in 2025 and the upcoming Adistar XLG 2.0 in 2026.
 
As far as true re-issues go, you don’t need to look farther than the Adistar Control 5, a high-performance runner’s delight that originally dropped in 2008. This script is hardly unfamiliar as brands across the board have been focusing on the 2000s era of running for the second life in 2025 and beyond, but the Adistar name is hardly a “Y2K” modern marvel.
 
We learned during our trip to the adidas brand archive in Herzogenaurach, Germany that the Adistar was born way back in 1976. Read on for a first-hand look at some of these incredible relics of the prized archive and how the brand’s past continues to inform the future.
 

It all starts in 1950 with the adidas Ace. This all-leather sneaker was billed as a walking shoe, although it was used for running. Given its full leather build and stitched construction, this 75-year-old pair of the Ace is still intact as it features no glue whatsoever. Notice the crossing leather strips at the heel; this was the predecessor to the modern day heel counter. You’ll see the same detail on a number of older adidas models.

Next is the first true running shoe in the adidas brand–the SL72. It’s a familiar silhouette to many, with several re-issues having been cycled over the years. It’s still currently on the market, with collaborations with women-led brands such as Wales Bonner and Sporty & Rich leading the way. The SL72 is the first adidas shoe with nylon and also features a terrycloth insole. SL stands for “Super Light,” while 72 nods to the year of its debut.

The marathon shoe arms race is still as competitive as ever. Back in the 1970s, adidas was doing whatever it could to make its shoes as lightweight as possible, going as far s cutting out circular holes all throughout the upper. Those who suffer from trypophobia: beware. This specific model is part of the Spezial range, but meant for marathon running (much like how the Handball Spezial was made for handball).

adidas released a track spike with removable pegs/spikes andd artificial shark skin on the bottoms for more grip. This model was launched in 1976 and was called the adidas Adistar 2000.

Jumping way ahead to the 2000s is the debut of the Adistar Control series. In 2004, adidas released the first-ever model, kickstarting a series of proven, high-performing running shoes that consisted of a number of tweaks over the years. The Adistar Control 2 was so similar to its predecessor that it wasn’t shown during the presentation.

The Adistar Control line dipped into the trail-running category with this specific Trail version from 2005. Given today’s demand for technical hiking footwear for casual purposes, adidas could considering bringing this as part of the Adistar Control series’ revival.

The year 2007 brought the Adistar Control 3; as you can tell the changes were rather minimal as to not disturb the cushioning and performance aspects that runners loved. Minor changes were made to the upper design to create more breathability zones and lock-down areas.

Finally, the adidas Adistar Control 5. This 2008 model is expected to relaunch globally through adidas on November 15th in several colorways for both men and women. In the U.S., the MSRP is set at $120, which is significantly less than its competitors in that performance range (Zoom Vomero 5, GEL-Kayano 14, upcoming New Balance 1890).

How the Jellyfish relates to all this is that Pharrell’s design was derived from the Adistar Cushion 3. The Cushion line debuted earlier in the 1990s and has served as the inspiration for a number of the brand’s modern tech-runner executions, including the XLG series.