adidas And Stan Smith Celebrate 50 Years Of Partnership

HISTORY

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If you’ve been paying attention to adidas since at least 2014, you might’ve asked, “Didn’t the Stan Smith already turn 50?” Yes, but let us explain: The original adidas Stan Smith design debuted in 1964. As the first all-leather tennis shoe, the pair quickly became a favorite among players, including Robert Haillet, the French professional that lent his endorsement and name to the innovative pair. Haillet would go on to showcase the performance benefits of the Three Stripes’ first tennis design for seven years, retiring in 1971. Who would be the new face of adidas’ industry-changing product?: Stan Smith.

Standing at 6 feet 4 inches tall and fresh off winning the U.S. Open in ’71, the American athlete was a force to be reckoned with. Smith had been playing in canvas models from competing brands, but the South Carolina-native was enticed by the opportunity to coincide with the boom in popularity tennis was enjoying at the time. Getting his name on the sneaker, let alone his face, wasn’t a part of adidas’ original contract. That, and history, changed in 1978 as the man named “Stan Smith” became a shoe.

Although the shoe received some modifications to coincide with its relaunch as the “adidas Stan Smith,” the most notable uphours arrived in the form of the athlete’s portrait on the top of the tongue and name on the heel. The shoe remained popular as a performance option up until the early ’80s (Smith retired in ’85). Off the grass and clay courts, however, the Stan Smith remained an affordable, easily-available option for a large part of the three subsequent decades until the Three Stripes decided to stop production in 2011. Smith was hesitant to the idea of taking the shoes off retail shelves given how popular the sneaker had been, but his adidas family was planning for a reintroduction in time of the design’s 50th anniversary. With the help of creative agency Lloyd & Co, the German sportswear giant relaunched the adidas Stan Smith to overwhelming success.