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
Pharrell’s adidas NMD Hu Animal Print Gets A Greyscale Makeover
Fresh off the launch of JOOPITER, Pharrell Williams has revisited his adidas NMD Hu Animal Print collaboration, bringing a tame greyscale arrangement to it. Primeknit...
Pharrell Extends The Tongues For His adidas Samba Humanrace Collaboration
The adidas Samba is currently enjoying quite the moment, with many fawning over the sneaker’s vegan-constructed variant and collaborative colorways with the likes of Wales...
The Pharrell x adidas NMD HU Further Harkens Animal Print Embroidery
Having established their latest iteration of the groundbreaking adidas NMD HU over the summer, Pharrell and The Three Stripes continue to expand their partnership while...
Pharrell Launches JOOPITER By Auctioning Off 20 Years’ Worth Of Sneakers And Other Personal Goods
Pharrell Williams has gone on to inspire a generation of new artists and creatives, but he’s remained one-of-one. Over the course of his professional career,...
Pharrell’s adidas NMD S1 RYAT Resurfaces In “Core Black/Solar Red” Colorway
Though on the precipice of releasing yet another new silhouette with adidas, Pharrell and his team have not yet moved on from the NMD S1...
Pharrell And adidas Get Wild With The NMD HU Animal Print “Amber”
Pharrell Williams and adidas are currently approaching a decade of partnership. The last few months have seen the duo revisit old and new designs with...
Pharrell’s adidas NMD S1 RYAT To Release In New “Cardboard” Colorway
This past year, adidas has gone to great lengths to reinvigorate the NMD line-up, introducing two, forward-thinking sequels: the NMD V3 and the NMD S1....
Pharrell Debuts Upcoming adidas Maubs NMD Collaboration At Subway Series
Keep an eye on the adidas NMD_S1 from here on out, because the Three Stripes brand will place heavy emphasis on “Sneaker Number 1” moving...
Pharrell’s adidas NMD HU Returns In Orange Animal Prints
First established in 2016, the Pharrell x adidas NMD HU lineage continues with the latest iteration of the groundbreaking silhouette. While earlier drops relied on...