Sportshowroom: adidas and Nike sneakers

The line between the sports courts and the street is thinning. High performance shoes are no longer just for athletes who participate in a match or a warm-up. Adidas and Nike sports shoes are now for everyday life. What was once a high-performance sporting goods, now belongs to the fashion world.

Each tennis has its own story

Walking through the streets, you are sure to find classic sneakers wherever you go. Sneakers are part of our lives. The early sports designers of the 20th century built a solid foundation for today's fashionable footwear, even if that was never what they intended to do. Whether it was the intention or not, today's sneakers have their roots in the performance shoes of the past.

Most sneakers started life on the racetrack. In the early 20th century, adidas (although operating under a different name) already provided specialized footwear for runners. In the late 1940s and 1950s, Nike entered the game. Inspired by the world of running, designers would design the models that the world now wears as sneakers.

From the blocks to the streets

Adidas kicked off the Gazelle . What started out as running shoes, was quickly adopted as training shoes and later, thanks in large part to music artists and movie stars, as fashionable shoes. Shortly thereafter, Nike's Internationalist followed suit, starting in the sports world and ending on the streets. 

In the meantime, Stan Smith of the United , who stood out as tennis in the 1960s, followed the same trajectory. Chosen by some of the biggest stars in the world, Stan Smith started a second life as tennis. This was the world where sport and fashion meet.

We witnessed how fashion, culture and sports can come together on the west coast of the United States in the 1970s. This was not because of celebrities, but because of the unusual young people skateboarding on the street. Nike started producing shoes that were ideal for its wayward sport. These shoes served for all kinds of activities, from walking to school, to skating in empty pools and parking lots. Today, Nike offers several sneakers for skaters with its Nike SB and Stefan Janoski collections.

A similar trend was observed on the basketball courts. For many decades, some of the NBA's biggest stars have played wearing the adidas Superstar . Boys and girls on the local courts realized this quickly and started using the same models in their daily lives. With a pair of iconic basketball shoes at his feet, his image shot. It was only in the early 1980s that Nike launched its own basketball models, with shoes like the Air Force 1 and Jordan 1. This had an immediate impact on the scene, on and off the court.

A new and turbulent era of tennis

The race that broke out in the tennis world in the late eighties and early nineties was unbelievable. Nike appeared to be launching new models in its Air Max collection at an unparalleled speed. This started in 1987 with 1, and continued each year with a newer and more updated model. The popularity of sneakers like the Air Max 90 , Air Max 95 and Air Max 97 was unlike anything that had ever been seen. The visible Air sole is one of the greatest technological innovations in footwear of all time. Since its launch, there has been a steady stream of new sneakers from different brands.

In the second decade of the 21st century, Nike continued its intense expansion of the Air Max collection with models like the Air Max 270 , Air Max 720 and Air Vapormax . Adidas, Nike's big rival, did not fail, and took the opportunity by launching the highly innovative Ultra Boost with its high pressure foam sole. At that time, almost all the major brands in the market were involved in the retro wave. Popular models from the 90s, 80s and earlier received modern updates. We saw the launch of Nike's Huarache , as well as older sneakers that never had much innovation, but that now became the center of the stage.

At the same time, the first sneakers that did not start life in the sport also started to emerge. Brands began to respond to the need for durable, comfortable and elegant shoes that adapted to the urban, fast and dynamic lifestyle of young people. Adidas, for example, would launch the NMD , a shoe for city nomads. And this may well be the future of design for new shoes. 

In less than half a century, tennis has expanded beyond the world of sports. They went through various subcultures, alternative movements, music and dance scenes. That's the story of every shoe today. A walk around the block will never be the same.