Adidas

adidas, also known as The Three Stripes Brand, is a renowned German sportswear company that was founded in 1949 by Adolf “Adi” Dassler. With a rich history in track and football, the company has become a dominant player in the global sneaker industry over the past seven decades.

Adidas has made significant breakthroughs in performance-related footwear over the years. It all started in 1936 when Jesse Owens wore Dassler’s revolutionary canvas and rubber spiked running shoe at the Summer Olympics in Germany, setting records and grabbing the world’s attention. The spikes didn’t feature the brand’s now-iconic 3-Stripes logo, which adidas acquired from Finland’s Karhu in 1952.

Adidas continued to gain attention in subsequent decades with groundbreaking releases like the Superstar (1969) and Stan Smith (1973), which became hugely popular in basketball and tennis, respectively. Other sports-specific models like the adidas Top Ten (1979) and adidas Forum (1984) quickly became lifestyle staples in major cities across the US, with the Superstar emerging as the unofficial shoe of hip-hop in the 1980s, largely due to RUN DMC’s superstardom. While running models like the SL 72 (1972) and ZX 500 (1984) enjoyed a cult following in Europe and Asia, they have since experienced resurgences and are now offered under the adidas Originals banner.

Recent years have seen a surge in the popularity of 3-Stripes-branded sneakers, largely due to the Kanye West-led Yeezy sub-label and the innovative UltraBOOST, BOOST, and adidas 4D cushioning technologies. The company has also forged high-profile collaborations with designers like Yohji Yamamoto’s Y-3 imprint since 2003, and in 2020, classic silhouettes were reimagined by Prada and Craig Green. Elsewhere, partnerships with artists and celebrities such as Beyoncé’s IVY PARK, Tyler “Ninja” Blevins, Jonah Hill, and Pharrell have helped adidas maintain its global dominance.

In 2021, adidas is expected to continue to blur the lines between sportswear and fashion, with the introduction of the UltraBOOST 21 marking the latest chapter in its performance-running history. The brand has also signed FEAR OF GOD’s Jerry Lorenzo to oversee the creative and business strategy of its basketball category, with plans to revamp existing signature sneakers for Damian Lillard, James Harden, and Derrick Rose, and potentially develop a new silhouette.