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 Preps The UltraBOOST For Valentine’s Day 2023 With Hearts And Multi-color Outsoles
February 14 is two weeks away. As such, some of the biggest players in the sneaker space have been revealing their Valentine’s Day collections. Recently,...
A “Better Scarlet” Heel Shines On The adidas UltraBOOST 1.0
For a half decade the original adidas UltraBOOST remained untouched as the Three Stripes brand toiled with subliminal tooling updates that paled in comparison to...
The adidas UltraBOOST 1.0 “Gum Pack” Lands In Men’s And Women’s Sizes
To this day, many still favor the UltraBOOST‘s original version, often lamenting the fact that adidas made it obsolete with subsequent updates. But now —...
The adidas UltraBOOST 1.0 Kicks Off 2023 In Classic “Core Black” And “Cloud White”
The adidas UltraBOOST 1.0 is no longer the premier footwear proposition from the German sportswear behemoth, but it continues to deliver tried-and-proven comfort and style....
The adidas UltraBOOST Helps Celebrate Disney’s 100th Anniversary
Proprietor to some of the most iconic films, characters, and theme parks of all-time, Disney is certainly among one of the most recognizable brands on...
Jesse Hall Gets His Own adidas UltraBOOST From The Mighty Ducks Pack
From The Simpsons to South Park, adidas has celebrated many an iconic franchise, series, and film over the course of the past few years. And...
“Core Black” and “Cloud White” Pair Together For The Made To Be Remade adidas Ultraboost
Leading by example within the sustainability space, adidas‘ Made To Be Remade initiative has proposed a recycling program that sees old, worn-down models reprocessed into...
The Mighty Ducks And The Hawks Square Off With The adidas UltraBOOST
“Here they come from behind the net…it’s the Flying V!” One of the most contentious and heated rivalries in all of fictional sports is undoubtedly...
Navy And Orange Pair For A Team-Ready adidas Ultraboost Web DNA
Since its inception as the brands premier cushioned racing silhouette in 2015, adidas has employed the Ultraboost as the forerunner of its sustainability initiatives like...