 sprinted down Edinburgh's Princes Street in an oxblood pair. However here we are, and Adidas Sambas have become part of a new 'blokecore' trend. Taking the style tropes of the Gallagher brothers and their perhaps more middle-class cohorts, Blur, this particular mode of dressing focuses on football shirts, tracksuit tops and those distinctive three-striped trainers. Well, at least it's not the endless saccharine-sweetness of Barbie-core. Trainerheads will enthuse about the myriad iterations of Adidas models –your Gazelles as opposed to your Spezials, Campus vs Stan Smiths – but the Sambas are particularly hot right now. One of the British fashion industry's most sought-after designers Grace Wales Bonner (winner of the LVMH prize in 2016 and founder of her eponymous label) is in her sixth season of collaborating with Adidas on unique interpretations of the Samba, the distinctive stripes rendered in lace or the body of the shoe remade in high-shine silver. Perhaps the reignited popularity of the Sambas is based not on what they are, for the trainers themselves are rather featureless, but what they aren't. The past decade has seen a boom in the cult trainer phenomenon like never before, becoming quasi-tribal in the levels of devotion to styles and brands, and trainers have become t){kind=link}
Colour-block suede trainers will update any outfit
As a “geriatric millennial”, I often raise my eyebrows at all things 90s-related that Gen Z are just discovering afresh. And alongside bucket hats and Matrix-style sunglasses, a curious artefact from a festival tent long forgotten has emerged blinking into the 2023 sun. Adidas trainers – most notably the Samba variety – are back on the feet of various celebrities and garnering cult status.
The current incumbents include Rihanna, ASAP Rocky and Bella Hadid. All very glossy and ironic, considering that they were also once the footwear of choice for Oasis, best accessorised with an alcopop, a parka and a laddish attitude. Renton from the 1996 cult classic Trainspotting (played by Ewan McGregor) sprinted down Edinburgh’s Princes Street in an oxblood pair.
However here we are, and Adidas Sambas have become part of a new “blokecore” trend. Taking the style tropes of the Gallagher brothers and their perhaps more middle-class cohorts, Blur, this particular mode of dressing focuses on football shirts, tracksuit tops and those distinctive three-striped trainers. Well, at least it’s not the endless saccharine-sweetness of Barbie-core.
Trainerheads will enthuse about the myriad iterations of Adidas models –your Gazelles as opposed to your Spezials, Campus vs Stan Smiths – but the Sambas are particularly hot right now.