Originally released as a basketball shoe in 1969, the Adidas Superstar would eventually transcend its sporting roots and become a staple of the style industry. This can be credited to its culture shift, helped largely by the hip-hop crowd (especially Run-D.M.C., rap icons who made the sneaker an integral part of their style).
Over the decades, the shoe has remained integral to the streetwear trend, even seeing a chunkier, more cushioned follow-up in the ’90s (which has since supplanted the original). While its popularity has ebbed and flowed, this legendary sneaker is on the rise again.
As proof positive, take a gander at the upcoming Adidas Originals x Beams Superstar II. This fresh take uses subtle style changes to give the iconic sneaker even more allure.
A fitting legacy
As the sneaker’s name suggests, this isn’t a special edition of the original Superstar; it’s a take on the ’90s follow-up. Overall, it’s a chunkier shoe, which fits with the emerging trends of now (a return to the ’90s and early 2000s).
For the most part, the original silhouette remains intact, as do many of the iconic details, like the rubber “shelltoe” toe cap and the trio of side stripes with their pinked edges.
