Adolf ‘adi’ Dassler – Born 3. November 1900 in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria. His father worked in a shoe factory, and adi followed in his footsteps and trained as a cobbler, before being drafted as a soldier in the German army during WWI.
After his return from service, His passion for sports soon inspired him to make shoes for athletes, specifically the classic Disciplines of track and field. He first set up shop in the cramped confines of his mother’s laundry room and started making shoes out of canvas; He was 20 when he finished his first pair.
Four years later his brother Rudolf, a trained salesman, joined Adi’s business and together they established Gebruder Dassler Schuhfabrik (dassler Borthers Shoe factory) where they initially employed just 12 workers. The brothers and their staff managed to produce 50 shoes per day.
In 1925, Dassler obtained his first two patents: one for a running shoe with hand-forged spikes for traction on running tracks and grass, and another for the first modern football boot with nailed leather studs. The business started to gain momentum and they supplied many athletes with footwear at the 1928 Olympics in Amsterdam.
But the business met its international acclaim during the 1936 Berlin Olympics, Adi drove to the Olympic village with a suitcase full of spiked shoes, and persuaded U.S. sprinter Jesse Owens to use them. Following Owens’s win of four gold medals, his success cemented the good reputation of Dassler shoes among the world’s most famous sportsmen.
After WWII Rudolf left the business and started what came to be known as puma. Adi renamed his business to Adidas and continued to progress, most of his customors being American soldiers, who gave him materials to make shoes from: tent fabric and leather from baseball gloves for the upper section and warplane fuel tanks for the sole
The three stripe ideal was with adi from the start, although there was no logo there was always three stripes on his shoes. This came from his three principles for making each shoe: To produce the best shoe to serve the needs of the sport. To protect the athlete from injury, and to make the shoe durable.
In 1950 The first ever low-cut, soft, lightweight football boot of was designed exclusively for the german national team for the world cup in Switzerland 1954 which featured revolutionary screw in studs which means they could easily be replaced, setting the standard for modern football boots.
The success of his football boots made him delve further into the sport, he set out to design a training show for use on hard and even icy ground, and so developed the iconic ‘samba’ shoe that is still popular today. The second most popular adidas shoe behind the Adidas Stan Smith tennis shoes
From the mid-1960s, adidas starts producing sports clothing for competitions and training. Ball production begins in 1963, and since then adidas have expanded their clothing ranges and equipment to different audiences and markets.
after adidas expanded into the leisure and apparel sector, Adi Dassler needed to seek a new, additional identification mark for the adidas brand. In August 1971, the Trefoil was born, out of more than 100 ideas. Inspired by the 3-Stripes but still different enough to remain independent. This symbol was first used on adidas products in 1972, and later became the company’s corporate symbol. Today it plays the important role of representing the adidas Originals collection.
In 1986. Run-DMC started the the first clothing brand collaborations in hip-hop history after they released the single "My Adidas" and began a long-time partnership with Adidas. They changed the way rappers presented themselves. They embraced the look and style of the street by wearing jeans, lace-less Adidas sneakers, and their trademark black fedoras. From Adidas track suits and rope chains to baggy jeans.
Today Adidas is still is popular as ever and constantly updating its style. They are split up in to three categories, again referencing their three stripes. Adidas Sport, Adidas Originals and adidas style. Each of which feature diverse collaborations with athletes, artists and celebrities
Adidas maintains the quality of its brand by showcasing collaborations and endorsments. One of there most recent being a Huge range of clothing and footwear inspired by star wars, an ever popular theme that was brought back into the limelight by this eccentric but stylish range.
As well as new collaborations, Adidas Host high profile events around the globe such as fashion shows, art installations or even just huge parties. But they always pull out all the stops and make sure they are worthy of the adidas name.
For the first time in adidas history, the five labels under adidas Sports Style (Y3, Porsche Design Sport, SLVR, NEO, Originals), including adidas by Stella McCartney were presented on the same stage. It was the first time celebrities from the region and Singapore were brought together to present the labels.
To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Adidas Adicolor range, they produced a series of marketing solutions that were used around London. the Adicolor concept involves a pair of pure white sneakers, sold with a set of quick drying, weatherproof pens. This allowed consumers to interact with the brand and produce their very own pair of sneakers.
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