From Gucci to Khaite, 10 Adidas Sneaker Collabs to Know and Shop

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Spotlighting as the sneaker of the season (read: century), the Samba—a 70-year-old Adidas design originally created by founder Adi Dassler—made its way back into the fashion lexicon over the last two years. An array of Adidas sneaker collaborations, from British designer Grace Wales Bonner’s exposed-stitching iteration to Jonah Hill’s ’90s-inspired version, have shown Sambas in a new light (and given its three-stripe siblings, such as the Gazelle and Campus styles, renewed recognition as well). The brand’s longest-running style, the Samba is a sneaker of choice among many trendsetters today, including Bella Hadid, Rihanna, and Ashley Olsen, to name a few. And while new interpretations have revitalized the classic shoe, the Samba holds street style staying power (and deserves acknowledgment) for a greater reason: It’s a global icon.

Communities around the world have donned the Samba for decades, without off-seasons. Although the shoe has been celebrated intermittently among fashion circles, its cultural significance has never wavered. I asked fashion journalist and podcast host of The Cutting Room Floor, Recho Omondi, to share her two cents on the Samba’s everlasting nature. An Adidas aficionado herself, Omondi contextualized the trend: “The Samba has always been around. What’s having a resurgence is the nostalgia—retro has made a comeback. There’s an affinity for the lifestyle that the shoe represents.”

First developed in 1950, the earliest version of the Samba (which looks almost nothing like the ones we see today) was made with the intention of offering better traction for soccer players on icy pitches. Following a soccer match in Germany, the winning players and press dubbed the shoes the Samba—a name alluding to the fancy footwork the shoes allowed—and it stuck. The Samba then had a certified global glow-up when it made its first foray into the fashion scene in the late 1970s. At this time, the shoe was still considered a performance sneaker for indoor pitches, but players, soccer aficionados, and admirers of the style began dressing in the quintessential sports garb off the field. Fashion historian and cofounder and CEO of vintage-fashion business What Goes Around Comes Around Seth Weisser added, “The sneaker became a part of history and highly sought-after. Due to the popularity, Adi Dassler expanded the brand and produced the sneakers we now know and love, the Adidas Samba and Gazelle styles.” The Samba soon became emblematic of the soccer subculture and a lifestyle sneaker for lovers of the world’s most popular game. Et voilà, an icon is born.

While the Samba’s story is laced with sport and function, its genesis gives the sneaker cultural relevance—and is part of the reason style icons love to design their own take on the style.

“People are not buying Sambas to play soccer. They’re not buying Stan Smiths to play tennis,” Omondi explains further. “They’re wearing them for the heritage. The shoe is part of the fashion zeitgeist because of the lifestyle and culture it represents.” The trainer with trend potential has evolved vastly since its original form, and new collaborations and colorways featuring the Samba and other three-stripe classics continue to add layers to a story that extends far beyond style.

These are the Adidas sneaker collaborations to shop now.

Wales Bonner

British-Jamaican menswear designer Grace Wales Bonner has designed several iterations of highly covetable Adidas collaborations. Seen on cool kids from East Hollywood to the Lower East Side, Adidas Originals by Wales Bonner offers vibrant colorways and reflects research on the music and photography of Burkina Faso in West Africa during the 1970s and ’80s.

Gucci

The Italian fashion house’s jewel-toned versions of the Gazelles, an Adidas Originals style, draw inspiration from Gucci creative director Alessandro Michele’s memories of the 1980s and ’90s and champion the signature three-stripe style.

Noah

The New York–based brand Noah celebrates Adidas’s beloved styles of the 1980s and ’90s with several three-stripe iterations, including a Vintage Runner Sneaker, in retro colorways.

Ivy Park

Adidas and Ivy Park released a new style, Super Sleek, which is a modern take on the Samba style and features a platform sole and the iconic three-stripe marking.

Busenitz

American professional skateboarder Dennis Busenitz has collaborated with Adidas to create flat, three-stripe styles that can work equally for skating or as a lifestyle shoe.

Khaite

Khaite teamed up with Adidas to design a monochromatic suede version of the German brand’s Country O.G. style, which is a reinvention of the original 1970s runner.

Craig Green

British menswear designer Craig Green created a futuristic shoe in four colorways—orange, green, blue, and gray—as part of the Adidas Originals collection.

Human Made

Japanese fashion label Human Made, founded by archivist and producer Nigo, teamed up with Adidas to recreate three classic styles: Stan Smiths, Campus, and Rivalry Low.

Stella McCartney

Fashion house Stella McCartney and Adidas have partnered to create fashion-forward iterations of Originals for more than 10 years. In this version, the brands offer low-top twill sneakers that incorporate classic elements of Adidas athletic silhouettes.

Prada

Adidas and Prada—two fashion houses with extensive heritage—came together to present their very own sneaker model: the A+P Luna Rossa. The simple colorways were designed to pay homage to each brand’s history of creating lasting styles in subtle colorways.

Samba

As fashion history tells us, the Samba shoe was introduced to the world in 1949. The objective? To allow football players to train on icy earth. Not too much has changed in the shoe’s design; back then there were still three stripes and a trefoil logo on the shoe’s tongue. Why mess with a masterpiece?