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.
Shopping Links
adidas
First Look At The Bape x adidas Dame 9
While the adidas Bape relationship is one that’s minted plenty of shoes in the past few years, you have to go all the way back...
Dr. Seuss’ Cat In The Hat Gets An adidas Rivalry Low Collaboration
The Three Stripes have always boasted a deep, diverse group of collaborators. So deep, in fact, that we can often forget some of the unexpected...
Bad Bunny’s Next adidas “Ballerina Shoe” Collaboration Revealed
With Bad Bunny’s newest collaboration with adidas Originals just hitting the market on June 23rd (the Gazelle Indoor “San Juan”, ICYMI), the sneaker movement is...
Another Dime x adidas Stan Smith Surfaces
Updated June 27th, 2024: The Dime x adidas Stan Smith has surfaced in a fresh “Core Black/Dark Brown” colorway. The shoes come with the same...
Neighborhood’s adidas Superstar From 2005, An All-Time Great Collab, Is Officially Back
It’s hard to pinpoint one specific moment that made the adidas Superstar the cultural icon it is today. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar made it fashionable on court...
Song For The Mute Revisits The adidas Shadowturf In Two Colorways
While low-top terrace classics like the adidas Samba rule the day, the Three Stripes brand has simultaneously embraced Y2K footwear trends by bringing back archived...
First Look At The Clot x adidas Dress Superstar
Clot just re-imagined the adidas Superstar as a dress shoe, building on a series of recent collaborative efforts that have completely overhauled the toolings of...
atmos Revisits Glow In The Dark Snake Skin On Latest adidas Superstar Collaboration
Japanese sneaker boutique atmos and adidas linked up on a collaborative “Glow In The Dark Snake” adidas Superstar in 2014, and now ten years later,...
JENNIE Of Blackpink Debuts The CLOT x adidas Gazelle
CLOT broke up with Nike and formed a new partnership with adidas Originals last year, marking a huge shift for the renowned sneaker industry player....