Adidas is one of the global leaders in the sporting industry and has been in action since the 1920s. Here at WCH, we stock the Skateboarding collection, which is one of many sport-specific ranges from the brand.
Well, the weather has been delightful recently, so this one was a pleasure! We hopped in the van and headed to Birkrigg Common, which is a 5-minute drive from our office and provides an insane view across our hometown of Ulverston, the surrounding fells of the Lake District and on a clear day, the mighty tower of Blackpool.
Tom opted for a pair of Gazelle ADV, which is a style everyone reading this will be familiar with. Alongside the Samba, the Gazelle is quite possibly one of the hottest footwear silhouettes available at the moment. The “Olympiade” model from the early 1960s laid the foundation for the Gazelle’s success, which really started to find its feet in the mid to late 60s when it became the go-to training shoe and a prop in countless 1960s-70s apparel photo shoots.
The Gazelle ADV is made from durable suede uppers and features a padded leather collar, a foam tongue and not to forget, the contrasting leather stripes. Underneath is a vulcanised rubber outsole which on this silhouette comes in a contrasting gum colour.
I chose the adidas X Dime Stan Smith, which again, is another iconic silhouette everyone will know and love. The Stan Smith originally began life as a tennis shoe which was developed by French tennis player, Robert Haillet in the mid 60s. The ‘Haillet’ was made from a leather upper and featured perforated three-stripe detailing to allow good airflow around the foot. Upon his retirement in 1971, adidas looked to replace Robert as the face of the shoe and opted for recent Wimbledon champion, Mr Stan Smith.
The Dime X adidas Stan Smith features the classic leather upper with perforated three-stripe detailing, but they’ve added a nice touch with the embossed details to give this silhouette a slightly different look to the one we’re used to. Finishing off this shoe is adidas x Dime branding on the tongue and heel.
I’ve waffled on for far too long so let’s summarise: adidas shoes are good. You can do sport in them, or you can just wear them. Cheers!
