adidas Stan Smith

  • MODEL: ADIDAS STAN SMITH
  • TYPE: TENNIS
  • MADE IN: CHINA
  • MADE ON: 06/13
  • ART.NO: G97029
  • FACTORY: APE 779001

Stan Smith. Predominantly a tennis champion or tennis sneaker? It depends on who you ask, but one thing is for sure: ‘his’ return will be welcomed by all.

And for some, more than others, as it’s by now an indisputable consumer truth that the Stan Smith tennis trainer has become a staple – no, scratch that, a legend – in the worldwide sneaker game. That’s a mighty statement one might say, but it’s proven through the overwhelmingly present household awareness that his name claims, even (and especially) to those who do not consider themselves trainer heads or collectors or connoisseurs.

What explains it best is also one of our favorite quotes from adidas’ exclusive, employee-only book “The Story as Told by Those Who Have Lived and are Living It”, in which Stan Smith himself is quoted to have said “The kids think I’m a shoe!” and while he surely says this with a light heart it definitely holds some heavier weight to it. Ask any Jordan head who his shoes are named after and we’d be surprised to find a single person who didn’t know of the man behind the brand. However flip that and ask a regular Joe or Jane about the history of the adidas Stan Smith and it’d be a gamble whether or not they even knew it was an endorsed product (also a quick Google image search of the term ‘Stan Smith’ will help put the balance into perspective).

That tells us that the sneaker really went beyond the man himself and overtook the namesake in so many ways, outshining his performance on the big courts with its own performance on the smaller courts of people’s everyday lives. In the above-mentioned book Stan goes on to explain that he’s not bothered by the turn of events at all, if his legacy left to the world is a quality trainer from a massive sportswear giant then so be it. But that’s just the problem, as adidas officially announced a discontinuation of the Stan Smith silhouette a few years ago the legacy was terminated for no apparent reason. Of course, we didn’t fully believe it, though they held tough for two years solid not dropping a single pair of these clean, classic kicks despite the complaints of consumers worldwide.

We’ve the pleasure of not only informing you that they’ve returned at long last, but of also showing you some photos of their first (and most iconic) reincarnation: the age-old green on white colorway. Premium white leather upper, “fairway” green hits including a suede heel patch (yum), and a slightly updated Stan Smith logo to hold the endorsement tough on the tongue. And check out that deliciously designed new box as well! With the release confirmed and the quality on point, the only question left now is who’s coppin’ how many pairs?

written by Dylan Cromwell

photography by errol