adidas

adidas, also known as The Three Stripes Brand, is a German sportswear company founded in 1949 by Adolf “Adi” Dassler. With roots in track and football, it has become a global player within the sneaker industry over the past 70 years.

With influence spanning football, basketball, tennis, skateboarding, fencing, and other sports, the company’s first performance-related breakthrough occurred in 1936 within the running space. Jesse Owens famously wore Dassler’s revolutionary canvas and rubber spiked running shoe in the Summer Olympics held in Germany that year. And while Owens’ record-breaking performance at the global competition brought adidas attention, the brand hadn’t yet found its identity; the spikes didn’t feature the brand’s now-signature 3-Stripes logo. (adidas acquired this branding from Finland’s Karhu in 1952.)

The German company achieved similar attention in subsequent decades within both the basketball and tennis spaces thanks to the Superstar (1969) and Stan Smith (1973), respectively. Other made-for-sports models like the adidas Top Ten (1979) and adidas Forum (1984) similarly became lifestyle staples in New York, Boston, Chicago, and other cities. adidas’ Superstar became the unofficial shoe of hip-hop in the 1980s largely due to RUN DMC’s superstardom. (The shell-toe was the best-selling sneaker in North America in 2016.) While less popular stateside, running silhouettes like the SL 72 (1972) and ZX 500 (1984) boast devoted fans of trainers across Europe and Asia. These silhouettes have experienced resurgences throughout the decades, and are now offered under the adidas Originals banner.

Recent years have seen 3-Stripes-branded sneakers soar in popularity, in large part because of the Kanye West led Yeezy sub-label and UltraBOOST, as well as BOOST and adidas 4D cushioning. The German company has also pioneered high-fashion collaborations, hosting Yohji Yamamoto’s Y-3 imprint since 2003. In 2020, classic silhouettes were reimagined by Prada and Craig Green. Elsewhere, partnerships with Beyoncé’s IVY PARK, Tyler “Ninja” Blevins, Jonah Hill, Pharrell and others ensured adidas remained the global behemoth it has been for decades.

Throughout 2024, the Three Stripes will surely continue its run as a proponent of the mix between sportswear and fashion. On this end, the brand signed FEAR OF GOD‘s Jerry Lorenzo to drive the creative and business strategy of its basketball category, culminating in the release of the Fear of God Athletics adidas Basketball 1, a shoe set for plenty of releases as the year draws on. It’s also been a banner year for adidas Basketball in terms of their signature athletes, with the German giant releasing Anthony Edwards’ AE1 & James Harden Vol. 8, while continuing a push for the Trae Young 3 and D.O.N. Issue #5.

Scroll below for the latest release dates and information on what adidas has in store for this year.

adidas

Complex Top 10 Sneakers Of 2011 Lists

Yo dawg, we heard you like sneaker lists, so we put sneaker lists inside a sneaker list to create a sneaker list of sneaker lists....

By John Kim December 22, 2011
8080

Sneaker News Blogs: Best of WDYWT – 12/6 – 12/13

We’d like to apologize for the delay in the Best of WDYWT for the last week, as a technical issue caused us to postpone the...

By John Kim December 13, 2011
18089

Complex’s 100 Best Sneakers Of The 2000s

Whenever we reach a certain chronological milestone, we tend to look back and reflect on what’s transpired in the years before. At the end of...

By John Kim November 29, 2011
3518

Sneaker News Blogs: Best of WDYWT – 11/8 – 11/14

Snap picture, email, type in info. That’s how easy it is to submit your kicks to Sneaker News Blogs: WDYWT, so why haven’t you participated?...

By John Kim November 14, 2011
1157

Collections: Just Blaze Tweets Random Sneakers

Hip-hop beatmaker Just Blaze recently went through his sneaker closet room during a house-cleaning session and decided to tweet some stray pairs from his impressive...

By John Kim October 12, 2011
341

The Top 50 Sneaker Collaborations Of All-Time

Much of the growth of the sneaker game over the last decade can be credited to the ‘collaboration’. It’s the rare occasion when a sneaker...

By John Kim October 10, 2011
678

The 25 Best Sneaker Boxes

Remember, as children, when we received presents for our birthdays or other gift-giving holidays, we played with the gift-wrap or the boxes? Sometimes, as adults,...

By John Kim August 18, 2011
1498

Sneaker Con DC August 2011 – Feet Recap

It was yet another successful showing in Washington D.C. for Sneaker Con, and earlier today you got a chance to look into the overall ambiance...

By John Kim August 9, 2011
3293

Sneaker News Blogs: Best of WDYWT – 8/2 – 8/8

Before we show you all the massive heat that was worn on Sneaker Con DC (that’s coming up shortly), check out the Top 20 sneakers...

By John Kim August 8, 2011
346