Here’s something we bet you didn’t know: In 1951, little-known Finnish sports brand Karhu – which means bear in the Scandinavian language – sold their logo to German start-up Adidas for £1,400 and two bottles of whiskey. Despite a little research, we’re still not sure what those bottles of whiskey were. But the logo? The iconic Adidas three stripes.
Over time, the logo came to symbolise the company – with owner Adolf Dassler even referring to his own company on several occasions as ‘The three stripe company’ – and designs for shoes and sneakers with this iconic trio of stripes down the side were first registered almost 70 years ago. Today, the global superbrand is celebrating its heritage, and the Adidas Originals ‘Spezial’ line is heralded as ‘the best of past and present’.
Our pick of this range is the Intack Faux Leather-Trimmed Suede Sneakers, modelled on pairs from the 1970s and 80s. With indigo suede uppers and that iconic three-stripe logo in the same white faux leather that trims the sneakers, they are iconic, hard-wearing and the perfect combination of stylish and sporty.
Look to the tongue and black rubber rubber soles for another piece of Adidas history – the signature trefoil logo. First designed almost half a century ago, this logo made its debut at the Munich Olympics in the summer of 1972, and has since gone on to become half of the logo duo that typifies Adidas. However, we’re still in the stripe camp over here at Gentleman’s Journal – and are happy to see our favourite logo taking pride of place on the Intacks. The trefoil’s all well and good, but we’d not give up our whiskey for it…
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