adidas Superstar: Change is a Team Sport

9 July 2020

An icon of youth culture from the start, the adidas Superstar returns to inspire a new generation.

adidas Superstar: Change is a team sport editorial by END.

Sneakers with real legacy - the silhouettes which stand the test of time and become essential building blocks of style around the world - all have one thing in common: each has transcended its sporting heritage to become icons of the streets. Quickly co-opted by the impassioned communities which surround team sports, this inner sanctum of silhouettes become cornerstones of our culture; seamlessly transforming into essential lifestyle sneakers by sheer force of their curb appeal. With a 50 year pedigree to be proud of, perhaps no silhouette better illustrates this connecting of cultures than the adidas Superstar.

Entering the market in the 1970s as the latest innovation in basketball footwear, the Superstar became an instant cult classic, favoured for its iconic low design and distinctive details; none more unique than the now world-famous shell toe which delivers on form and function in equal measure. Truly an innovation, within years of its initial release the Superstar was the choice silhouette for more than 75% of the NBA and quickly migrated off-court to become an enduring symbol of 80s street culture - spearheaded by icons of early hip-hop, Run DMC.

Fast forward 50 years and much has changed but the Superstar's rubber toe remains a steadfast symbol of team spirit and the indelible ability of sneakers to connect us across cultures and give us common ground. Reimagined and reworked over the decades by a slew of cultural changemakers from Blondey McCoy in London to Jonah Hill in Los Angeles to BAPE in Tokyo (under telling tag-line 'The Respect is Mutual') the Superstar is eternal. Truly a paragon of reinvention, the adidas Superstar exists at the intersection of the past, the present, and the future, standing tall as a daily reminder that change has and will always be a team sport.