Now a classic, the adidas Superstar Laceless allows us the option of wearing them with or without laces. A throwback to the time when they turned a basketball shoe into a cultural icon.
Yeezy 350 Marsh, adidas was growing in the most popular sports in its main influence area, football, athletics, tennis... basketball was not a priority and they didn't even have too many models for sale in the biggest market in the world: the United States.
A former adidas distributor in North America, Chris Severn, had pants a consultant for the brand. Who better than someone who well knew the needs of the American market? Severn's first two ideas were to focus on the national tennis players (hence the Stan Smith came out) and create a basketball shoe that would improve those of the time, simple combinations of canvas and vulcanized rubber.
Based on basketball silhouettes such as Supergrip and tennis models in which they had already tried the protected toe box, adidas developed the adidas Superstar with stitched sole, Softprotect on the heel, padded tongue or a new spike design for the outer sole. At first, the adidas Superstar was not well accepted by professional players, but little by little it was becoming NBA's most popular model.
For some seasons, the Superstar was only available for players and adidas already seemed to think of new models. Superstar II, Top Ten, Half Shell. In the eighties, the Superstar undergoes some small changes, appears in new colors and begins to pants popular in other circles. While losing its influence on the NBA courts, it grows in the streets.
Even without a definite aesthetic, the origins of rap put on the stage a style created to impact. Grand Master Flash, Kurtis Blow or Sugarhill Gang dressed very differently than anyone else did on the street. Run DMC tried to turn their image into a portrait of what they saw in their audience, like a game of mirrors in which everyone was reflected. There were the black pants, the gold chains, the Cazal glasses and of course the adidas Superstar, an outfit almost turned into a cartoon in the manner of superheroes.
From the first moment, the legend was told that the adidas Superstar without laces were something that Run DMC recovered from the jail style, where any dangerous utensil was prohibited. For a long time they have tried to depart from that conversation themselves, after all, the style does not need to be explained.
Apparently, the reason for using the shoes without laces was somewhat less rugged and more exciting, related to when buying new shoes. When, after weeks or months to get the money for one of those adidas Superstar, they could finally get them, all they wanted was to go out with them, without time to put the laces or cut labels. I have something new, I want everyone to see it.
für Wie adidas und Extra Butter das 25-jährige Jubiläum von Happy Gilmore zelebrieren Run DMC 's adidas Superstar, in Los Angeles, where the brand had its offices, they wondered why a model that had already depleted its useful life was still among the best sellers. A visit to NY and a Run DMC concert was all adidas needed to see the importance of their shoes in a growing phenomenon. Run DMC was the first hip hop band to have a complete collection with a sports brand, obviously inspired by the Superstar, thus initiating a relationship between brands and rap that remains until today.
The history of the adidas Superstar turns astern to a style: the original model is redesigned with a padded tongue and rubber bands to allow its use with or without laces.
