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adidas revival wales bonner samba gazelle socials

What’s Really Driving The 3 Stripes adidas Revival?

adidas Operating Profits Increased 190% Compared to 2023

COMPANY FOCUS
COMPANY:
adidas
FOUNDED:
Herzogenaurach, Germany
STOCK DATA:
adidas AG NADS.DE
1,96%
223,30 €
AVAILABLE FROM:

adidas recently reported operating profits of £575m for the first 6 months of 2024, up 190% from the same period from 2023, but what’s really driving the 3 stripes revival?

It’s easy to second glance at a few “adidas this” & “nike that” articles across the web but to truly understand the recent 3 stripes revival I think you have to have actually lived and breathed the footwear game for the last 20 years. Trends obviously massively affect a companies balance sheets, operating profits and Q1 data analysis, but sometimes companies just loose their dominance, for a while anyway. It seems to me we were talking about adidas & Nike in reverse roles not so long back. Nike had reached the top of their game with the roll out of their SNKRS app alongside the revival of Air Max, Dunk’s & Air Force 1’s. adidas on the other hand were a bit all over the place releasing “old meets new” silhouettes that were just as quickly forgotten about as they were released. Fast forward to 2024 and adidas, in a post YEEZY era, have now reported operating profits of £575m for the first 6 months of 2024 which is up 190% from the same period from 2023. Meanwhile shares in NKE (Nike) have fallen to their lowest in almost 10 years. So what’s really driving the 3 stripes adidas revival?

adidas revival wales bonner
Above: The adidas Originals x Wales Bonner collection re-introduced the Samba to a new demographic.

Trends come and go and that is (probably) 90% of why adidas has experienced such a revival in recent years and with adidas this is all about their classic gum soled suede silhouettes. Maybe they just lost their vision of what adidas really was. For me it will always be a nostalgic image of a mullet headed West German footballer in a full trefoil track top or a dingy band room somewhere in Burnage full of Gazelles & guitars. Sometimes the classics are just better and that is exactly what adidas have experienced. Classic 3 stripes styles like the Samba, the Gazelle & the Spezial have taken over the likes of the AF1 from Nike in terms of Google searches and probably popularity for a newfound wearer of all things 3 stripes. adidas have tapped into a new demographic, a “casual” female wearer for everyday work-wear, commuting and grabbing a bite to eat with friends as oppose to the traditional terrace’ going SPZL wearers from Blackburn, Bradford & Bermondsey. As much as the die hard adidas fans don’t like the fact a 21 year old Gen Z’er that works in content creation from Crawley are now wearing their cult classics’, adidas on the other hand are buzzing just like Beckenbauer was back in Italia’ 90.

adidas spezial revival
Above: The adidas SPZL range holds a cult-like status among adidas afiocondas and recently celebrated its 10th anniversary.

It’s not just adidas however experiencing the new surge in gum soled suede styles, so have their old-age rival, PUMA. Classic styles like the Palermo, the Super Team & the Suede have also become “go to” styles for this new found female demographic. This isn’t to say women never wore the likes of the Gazelle or the Suede, of course they did. It’s just become something like a phenomenon of modern day trends that can happen within months thanks to the algorithm reaches of social media, influencers, content creators, & celebrities. adidas is currently riding a wave of the gum soled casuals classics, how long it will last is another question. More recent collaborations with the likes of KITH, Clarks Original’s & Wales Bonner have also allowed classics like the Samba to reign supreme, also tapping into this new found demographic.

adidas clarks kith samba revival
Above: The adidas x Clarks Originals X KITH collaboration put a whole new “wallabee” inspired spin on the Samba.

As far as Nike is concerned, they’re still one of the biggest sportswear brands in the world and probably always will be. Recent trends haven’t gone in their favour but that’s the game their in & there’s probably a range of other factors at play. After recently completing the $1 Billion acquisition of Hibbett, JD sports global managing director Mike Armstrong recently said “Anybody that writes Nike off probably needs to go back and look at the history of Nike in the market place over the last sort of 30, 40 years. Nike will be just fine”. On the other side of the coin the adidas revival doesn’t look like its going to slow down anytime soon. The fact is if something’s popping, the company’s profits will (should) always reflect that. Coincided with cut-offs from controversial rappers & competitors slowing down, that my friends is the business of sneakers. Until next time!