adidas Trimm Star

• MODEL: ADIDAS TRIMM STAR
• TYPE: CASUAL / INDOOR
• MADE IN: VIETNAM
• MADE ON: 01/13
• FACTORY: SHW 675001

I remember where I was when I heard the news that the adidas Trimm Star was to be reissued. I was guttered, then happy, then guttered again, then really happy that the trainer that I had once owned was being re-released and I was to have another pair of them within my possession. At last! I knew nothing could compare to the legendary West German version from the 1970s but they would be a great reissue, wouldn’t they? Only time would tell…

Over the following weeks, lads that I knew (and even lads that I didn’t) on web forums that I’m part of (and in-real life as well) were already slating them even before the inevitable sample pictures popped up on the web for all to see. The suede will be rubbish, the shape will be wrong, the tongue will be wrong, the laces will be the wrong width, the sole will be the wrong colour, the innersole, the Ghillie lacing, the box, the person in the shop selling them, the delivery van, the this, the that, and the other; they seemed doomed to fail before they even had a chance.

Jump forward a few months and everyone has had a chance to get their hands on them, some people love them, some people don’t. But what I can’t get my head around is the way some lads have ripped them apart by comparing them to the originals without ever owning a pair of West German-made Trimm Star or even ever having seen a pair anywhere else other than in a book or on the Internet.

Yes, there are obvious differences that anyone could point out instantly but these were made in Vietnam within the last twelve months not in the 1970s in West Germany. All the obvious differences that have already been mentioned are true, they aren’t an exact copy of the original shoe but which reissues are? And yes, there have been some much better reissues of other models but there have also been some forgettable ones too in an array of colourways.

I pre-ordered the 2013 adidas Trimm Star reissue because I was really interested as to what standard the quality would be, not how close a comparison they would be to the original, because, lets face it, adidas were never going to try their best to make an identical copy. And why would they? They would have always made reissues this way if that were the case. When the shops got their stock and mine landed a few days later I didn’t like them, I’ll be honest, I’ll hold my hand up and admit that I’d gone with the majority and slated them. This, that, and the other was wrong with them. But as the months have gone on I’ve really grown to like them. The shape is nice, I like the suede, the Ghillie lacing looks good, I like the colours together, and they’re well made. The reissue Trimm Star, in my opinion, are a winner.

written by Bobby Mac

photography by errol