The Superstar was the first great universal shoe. Until well into the sixties, each brand was satisfied with its local business and, unless a distributor opted for new markets, it was difficult to find certain models far from their sphere of influence. The first to understand that sport would be a global phenomenon was Horst Dassler, one of the founder of adidas' sons and, for many, the real creator of sports marketing as we know it now. Not only sneakers, football and the Olympic Games would be very different without Horst's vision.
adidas Superstar, 50 years of a myth
The adidas Superstar is one of those few shoes with which you do not fear the excess of adjectives. Born from simplicity, its design and history have managed to keep it for five decades as one of the most influential silhouettes. Its legacy inevitably passes through the New York of the seventies and eighties, but goes further, even since its birth.
From France, where he directed the adidas distributor, Horst proposed an assault on the United States while the adidas headquarters continued to grow in Europe. Chris Severn, a former adidas distributor in the USA, proposed to replicate the idea of the Stan Smith (then called Haillet) in basketball. His bet came from the hand of the Superstar, a leather shoe technically superior to the usual canvas models in American professional basketball of the time. The most identifying element of the Superstar, the rubber toe box, had already appeared in previous tennis (Wimbledon Wilhelm Bungert) and even basketball (Supergrip) models, but was almost ignored in the technical specifications of the time, buried among endless improvements: softprotect in the heel, padded tongue, nylon interior, a new design on the outsole that ensured traction and an improvement of 30% lighter.
The shoe arrived to the NBA almost by chance. Without too many contacts in professional basketball, Chris Severn sent some pairs to Jack McMahon, San Diego Rockets' coach, one of the worst teams in the league. Three of its injured players tested those shoes as a last resort. In 1969, there were three players with adidas Superstar in the NBA, four years later 85% of the players wore the rubber toe box sneakers. Spoiled on by its American success, the Superstar made in France also conquered all of Europe.
In the 80s, the Superstar had become indispensable in the photographs of Jamel Shabazz and the concerts of Run DMC. Seated as a hip hop reference, it made a jump to Japan where it became a collector object and gave rise to the first collaborations.
From Landersheim in France, Horst Dassler had managed to get his shoe to conquer the United States first and then the rest of the world.