The best Adidas shoes you can buy right now

Adidas trainers are omnipresent. They crop up in more movies than Samuel L. Jackson– counting Home Alone (1990), Scream (1996) and The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004) – appear on the catwalk more often than David Gandy (in recent years, at least), and star in more music videos than Hype Williams has directed. Plus, they’re ubiquitous in practically every town, village and city on Earth. (We should know, we’ve done our fair share of travelling.) If only Adolf (Adi) Dassler was still alive today to see the scale of his impact. Unfamiliar with his story? Allow us to fill you in.

How was Adidas founded?

After returning home to Herzogenaurach (a small town in Bavaria, Germany) from World War I, Adi Dassler would spend his days creating sports shoes in his mother’s laundry room. He took great pleasure from experimenting with offbeat materials – predominantly war debris he scavenged – to invent footwear like no other. In 1924, he decided to turn his hobby into a career by founding ‘Gebrüder Dassler Schuhfabrik’ (‘Dassler Brothers Shoe Factory’) with his older brother, Rudolf. Their aim? Create reliable footgear for athletes.

Just over ten years later, the Dassler brothers kicked things up a notch by convincing American athlete Jesse Owens to wear a handmade pair of spiked trainers at the 1936 Berlin Summer Olympics. In the wake of the track and field star's four gold medal wins, the brothers began to garner recognition outside their home country. By the 1940s, Gebrüder Dassler Schuhfabrik was selling more than 200,000 pairs of shoes a year.

Post World War II, Adi and Rudolf began to quarrel for reasons unknown, which led to the brothers parting ways and establishing their own businesses. On one side of Herzogenaurach's Aurach River, Rudolf founded Puma in 1948, and on the other side, Adi founded Adidas in 1949.

At the 1954 Switzerland World Cup, Adidas cemented its place in sportswear’s pantheon when West Germany wore Adidas football boots to beat Hungary 3-2 in the final. What made the boots superior to those worn by the opposition? They were more lightweight and supportive, and featured screw-in studs that allowed players to customise their shoes depending on weather conditions. Swiftly after the team’s triumph, Adi was hailed as a trailblazer, and his trainer designs were admired across the globe.

What are the best Adidas shoes you can buy?

Ever since its inception, Adidas has gone from strength to strength, and innovative footwear has remained at the heart of the brand. Below, we take a look at the best of the bunch, from the Adidas Superstar to the Adidas Humanrace Sičhona.

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