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Adidas archive

Posted in FASHION by SNEAKERFREAKER on Nov 18, 11:00AM

Earlier this year, The World’s Greatest Boogazine dispatched one of its intrepid reporters (fresh from a miserable Melbourne winter), towards an impossibly sun-drenched Euro summer. After six inedible plane meals, crying babies, burly blokes snoring at a level that could wake Stevie Wonder, a missed connection and two bouts of lost luggage, we finally touched down in Herzogenrauch, Germany, hometown of the one and only Adolf ‘Adi’ Dassler.

We arrived to find a summer that was about as hot as Tori Spelling. But that was of little concern – we had been invited into the bosom of the iconic three stripes to see exactly what goes on first hand. The schedule was jam packed, but after our heartfelt request to the PR department, we had our wish granted. For 15 glorious minutes we were given unfettered access to the adidas archive, home of literally thousands of items from this sporting giant’s history.

With so little time and so many shoes, it was quite frankly an existential nightmare. Where to look? What to photograph? What to fondle?

We were surrounded by vintage gems including Lendls, Edbergs, Oregons, EQTs, ZXs, Ewings, SL72s, Concords, Made in France Superstars, Pro Models, Micropacers, Stan Smiths, Super Skates, Gazelles, Torsions and even some mysterious hybrids. Rack upon rack was exploding with old-school adi-freshness. From the brightest, most extreme trackies to tiny ‘80s style running shorts, hectic swimwear, ponchos and everything else in between... this is the stuff sneakerhead folklore is made of!

Like the first time you get lucky, it all happened way too fast and after a frantic burst, we were out of breath and as excited, confused and perplexed as we’d ever been. There were so many amazing things we simply couldn’t stop for names, rank and serial numbers, but we had been where few have been before – most adidas employees aren’t even given the chance to witness this place in person!

So what are we waiting for? Pour yourself an ice cold Schöfferhofer, slap on the bratwurst, pull out the pretzels, set your iTunes to ‘My Adidas’ and throw on your freshest ZX to experience just a fraction of the magic we found in the adidas archive. Prost!

By SNKFRKR