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.
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adidas
adidas Honors The ZX 8000 “Aqua” With The LXCON Retro
With the ZX8000 coming back in a big way — as was revealed just earlier today — it seems the roll-out doesn’t stop with just...
Size? Continues Trail And Hiking Inspired Series Of Exclusive adidas LXCON 94s
Arguably the sneaker exclusive king, Size? and their branch of select releases span brands all across the entire industry, and with the new year soon...
Where To Buy The adidas ZX 8000 OG “Aqua”
This year saw the revival of several models under adidas’ ZX line and even saw Jacques Chassaing, its original designer, get his own ZX 10,000...
Blondey’s Alternate Colorway Of His adidas Superstar Collaboration Is Limited To 200 Pairs
After Blondey McCoy and adidas linked up for a transparent Superstar collaboration earlier in the month, it looks as though the two parties have decided...
Dennis Busenitz Helps adidas Skateboarding Kick Off 2020 With The Vulc II
Still an integral part of the Three Stripes team, Dennis Busenitz, with a massive repertoire of signature silhouettes behind him, has been relatively hush throughout...
Jacques Chassaing, The Original Designer Of The adidas ZX Ranges, Gets His Own 10,000C Colorway
The efforts of adidas’ Consortium division is most notably known for their collaborative work with leading retailers across the globe, but to cap off their...
The adidas Yeezy 700 v3 “Azael” Is Releasing Tomorrow
With the decade nearly approaching its close, no brand is working quite as hard as adidas Yeezy. Among new colorways for the Yeezy 350 and...
The adidas Yeezy Boost 350 v2 “Zebra” Returns Tomorrow
Depending on who you are, tomorrow’s fourth re-release of the adidas Yeezy Boost v2 “Zebra” likely makes you feel one of three ways: excited, indifferent,...
The adidas Nite Jogger Is Arriving Soon In Black And Solar Orange
Good design is not always about completely reinventing the way an item looks or functions. Oftentimes, the most lauded configurations are those that simply update...