100 years ago, brothers Adolf ("Adi") and Rudolf Dassler created their first pair of athletic shoes. Hundreds of groundbreaking designs, epic moments and star-studded collabs later, this book presents the first visual overview of the Adidas shoe through more than 350 models, including never-before-seen prototypes and one-of-a-kind originals.
To further develop his products and tailor them to the specific needs of athletes, Dassler asked them to return their worn shoes when they were no longer needed, with all the shoes eventually ending up in his attic (to this day, many athletes return their shoes to Adidas, often as a thank you after winning a title or breaking a world record). This collection now forms the "Adidas Archive," one of the largest, if not the largest archive of any sporting goods manufacturer in the world, which photographers Christian Habermeier and Sebastian Jäger have been visually documenting in great detail for years.
These images, taken with the best reproduction techniques, reveal the fine details as much as the stains, tears, repair tape, grass stains and faded signatures. It's all there, unmanipulated and captured in extremely high resolution - and with it, the personal stories of each individual wearer come to light. We see the shoes worn by the West German soccer team during its "miracle" World Cup victory in 1954 and the shoes worn by Kathrine Switzer when she ran the Boston Marathon in 1967, before women were officially allowed to compete; custom models for stars from Madonna to Lionel Messi; collabs with artists such as Pharrell Williams, Raf Simons, Stella McCartney, Parley for the Oceans or Yohji Yamamoto; and the brand's pioneering techniques and materials, such as its pioneering use of plastic waste collected from beaches and coastal communities.
Accompanied by a foreword by designer Jacques Chassaing and expert text, each photo tells us the why and the how, as well as the driving force behind Adidas. What we discover goes beyond mere design; ultimately, these are simply shoes, worn by their users who have loved them - but they are also first-hand witnesses to our sports, design and cultural history, from the beginnings of the Dassler brothers and the founding of Adidas to today.
Specifications
Title: The Adidas Archive: The Footwear Collection
Author: Christian Habermeier
Publisher: Taschen
Size: 318 x 296 mm
Size: 644 pages
Weight: 5630 grams
Language: English
Material: Hardcover
ISBN: 9783836571968
