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,...
MRBAILEY And adidas Head Underwater With The Upcoming OZMORPHIS
Daniel Bailey, widely known as MRBAILEY, has been teasing his upcoming collaboration with adidas for some time now. And after much anticipation, said project —...
“Pulse Mint” Animates The adidas Adizero Prime X Strung
As a new running season gets going, the adidas Adizero Prime X Strung has recently surfaced in an all-new “Pulse Mint” and “Lucid Fuchsia” makeover....
The adidas Y-3 Superstar Surfaces In New “Unity Ink” Colorway
The Superstar is, without question, one of the Three Stripes’ most recognizable sneakers, sharing history with icons the likes of Run DMC. Even Yohji Yamamoto’s...
The adidas Orketro Receives A Tonal Wash Of “Aluminum”
With his first collaborative adidas Orketro silhouettes just a few days away, Sean Wotherspoon has already begun teasing his next slate of roughly textured propositions...
Pharrell’s adidas NMD S1 MAHBS Releases January 27th
Pharrell spent the better part of 2022 reconnecting with nature, an experience that thus inspired his collaborative work with the Three Stripes. And after releasing...
Pusha T Unveils “Thorn” Branded adidas Samba At Paris Fashion Week, Teasing New Originals Collection
Terrence LeVarr Thornton – better known as “Pusha T” – has been slinging dope outfits for a long time. Although he’s mostly retired the loud A BATHING...
“Collegiate Green” Anchors The adidas Forum 84 Hi
Storming onto the court in 1984 like a bat out of hell, the adidas Forum 84 continues to proffer the silhouette’s original, tried-and-true design language...
Yu-Gi-Oh! And adidas Summon Another Collaborative ADI2000
When I was growing up, I was afraid to talk about anime. Many were quick to make fun of the medium, often writing it off...