adidas Mexicana

  • MODEL: ADIDAS MEXICANA
  • MADE IN: WEST GERMANY
  • ART.NO: 322

The adidas Mexicana, made in West Germany, utilises the silhouette of the established Gazelle, which was by then, accepted as the functional sports shoe but was being seen more and more on the streets of fashionable young Europeans, rather than in the sports centres for which they were intended.

In this guise, shown with the matching suede tongue and boxed logo, the Mexicana was probably named by the marketing department as a homage to the 1970 World Cup, of which Mexico was the host nation.

Using the much favoured pigskin suede, the vibrancy of the yellow is offset with the black stripes and heel tab. The design prefers to re-use the same white sole unit as the Gazelle rather than opting for a black or gum sole.

On later variations of the model, a contrasting black vinyl tongue was used, with the trefoil logo – which was probably chosen because of unit costs rather than aesthetics – and the boxed horizontal lettering substituted for the vertical parallel style.

As of yet, the Mexicana hasn’t been released as a re-issue (retaining its rarity and appeal to collectors) albeit a recent version of the Gazelle OG was released in a close version of the Mexicana, sadly without the white sole unit.

written by Mike Stopforth

photography by errol

shoes contributed by Will Clayton

  • Ben

    Lovely pair of /// and a excellent write up Mike…. Although Training 72 had a reissue which was as close as damn it to the mexicana…

  • Bobbymccartenlfc

    They were very similar Ben, underated shoe the training72, there were also a teal coloured pair which were nice. The Mexicana and Cancun are joint 1st on my most wanted list!

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1171331810 Ben Cain

     I’m finally able to say I’m the proud owner of a pair of these…

  • Bob

    I was in high school when these came out when the only way you could get Adidas where I lived in Illinois  was mail order… My friend had a pair of these and the matching pair of Aztec spikes…he was soooooo cool.

  • Martin

    I wore these in the early 1970′s…… probably the best running shoe at the time and almost certainly one of the best ever. The suede upper is a bit of a disadvantage when it rains…maybe thet’s partly why Adidas brought out the SL72, which was, if I remember correctly the first of many running shoes with nylon uppers.

  • Pete Wagner

    I went through several pairs of these and Gazelles between 1971-1975 and was crushed when Adidas stopped making them. I couldn’t believe it! They were what led to me becoming a serious distance runner. I wish they would re-release them like they did the Gazelle, BUT EXACTLY as they were, not with the new plastic tongue, etc.

  • Jamie Stewart

    I have a Deadstock Pair For sale