Samba Who? adidas Has a New Affordable It Sneaker
adidas loves a reissue, and with good reason: Because the feeling is most certainly mutual.
Take the adidas Samba or Gazelle, for instance, both of which have become ubiquitous in the world of streetwear following a flurry of revamps and collaborations from adidas over the last few years, most notably with names like Wales Bonner and Gucci respectively.
Despite both the Samba and the Gazelle's initial releases dating back to the mid 1900s, both have found a rightful place in today’s sneaker market thanks to intuitive contemporary updates.
adidas clearly has a knack for rejuvenating archival styles, so for 2024 it's backing another classic from its depths that is hell-bent on becoming It shoe of the year: the SL72.
First released back in, well, 1972 as the name suggests, the adidas SL72 is a low-profile silhouette primed and ready to have its moment.
It's slimline, affordable ($100), comes in a slew of colorways and, following a trio of early January reissues, the SL72 is already going through the motions.
In fact, a quick stroll down Shoreditch High Street or sinking at pint at Soho's The Dog & Duck and chances are you’ll spot a pair of adidas’ new-look SL72s, in all their nylon-suedey glory.
TikTok is having its say on the SL72 too. In the last six months alone, the "adidas SL72" search term has garnered over 9 million views, with the majority of users specifically discussing the "Maroon / Almost Yellow / Preloved Brown" colorway.
First came the Samba (which still remains arguably the most hyped silhouette of the 2020s), before the resurgence of the Gazelle in 2021.
Then there was the rise (albeit temporary) of the Campus in early 2023, before a plateau across the board.
So the fact that adidas is now pushing another affordable archival classic for 2024 shouldn’t come as a surprise, especially one so comparable to its other successful reissues in terms of aesthetic and price.
Of course, this isn’t the first time the adidas SL72 has appeared on our timelines in recent years.
Back in 2020, Wales Bonner designed a pair of collaborative SL72s in her debut adidas collection, before returning to the sneaker with two new colorways for Spring/Summer 2023.
The difference this time, though, is that adidas backing the SL72’s rise with mainline reissues too, something that certainly helped the Samba and the Gazelle along the way.
And, if we know anything of adidas when it goes full steam ahead, it's that the end result tends to be the same: pure unadulterated hype.
