To understand how the Stan Smith became one of the best-selling sneaker models in the world, we have to go back a few years, that is to say in 1964. In the golden age of basketball , the German firm Adidas seeks to surf this mode and to expand its range of products, so far mainly focused on the world of football.
Stan Smith: a pair of sneakers for tennis players
The brand offers the services of a Roger Haillet, a French tennis player of his condition, to oversee the creation of a pair of sneakers for tennis courts. This is how the Adidas Roger Haillet, first draft of the Stan Smith, is marketed from 1971.
The main innovation of this basket: it is leather, unlike the pairs of canvas currently sold at the time. Recognizable by its immaculate white color and green leather on the heel and tongue, basketball is the first pair designed for high-level tennis.
Stanley Smith, tennis player. Credits: Getty Images
Stan Smith: the birth of a myth
It will take a few years for the sneaker to be an international success thanks to the signing of a contract between the Adidas brand and Stanley Smith, the best tennis player of the time. This is how the Adidas Roger Haillet is renamed the Adidas Stan Smith in 1978. From then on, the sales take off and the Stan Smith becomes a true fashion accessory that goes far beyond the tennis courts.
The mythical basketball Stan Smith of Adidas. Credits: Getty
In the 1980s , breakdancers appropriated it and helped shape its legend. The Stan Smith then symbolizes the protest culture, conveyed by the musical currents reggae and ska. After a few years of oblivion, the sneaker Stan Smith reappears on the front of the scene in the early 1990s. Driven by the booming hip hop movement, the famous sneaker is acclaimed by the group Run DMC who signs a contract with Adidas to promote Stan Smith. The title "My Adidas" is created to the glory of the pair of shoes .
Stan Smith: sneakers become cult
In France, it is the rap band IAM of Marseille who is in charge of advertising basketball in the song "Je danse le mia". The Stan Smith becomes the symbol of neighborhood youth. The cinema does not fail to appropriate, as in the film "The Hate" Mathieu Kassovitz, released in 1995.
Vincent Cassel in the movie Hate. Credits: Getty
But all good things come to an end, as they say! In 2011, Adidas launched a pavement in the pond announcing the end of the manufacture of the legendary sneaker.
In 2013, Adidas announces the return of Stan Smith for early 2014. The fashion sphere is racing and front row parades at the school yard, everyone adopts the white basketball! With no less than 70 million copies since its creation, Stan Smith continues to inspire the greatest players in fashion and pop culture, from Louis Vuitton to Pharrell Williams, and to wear half of the planet .
