About

adidas Superstar

In 1969 adidas solved a problem basketball players had lived with for years: the toe of a leather shoe wore through on the push-off. The fix was a ribbed rubber cap laid over it. Practical, ugly to some, and in the end the most recognizable detail the brand ever made.

Which build you have in front of you

The shell toe sits on every version, but more differs underneath than you would think. The regular Superstar keeps the low, narrow proportions. The II is a later revision with a different lining and finish. The XLG puts the same upper on a thicker, taller sole, and there is a Mid version that covers the ankle. Alongside those, the Superstar Bold with its platform and the Superstar Slip-On without laces stand as models of their own. Same toe, different shoe, so watch which one you are comparing.

The shell is a repair

That shell toe, then, is no style choice but a reinforcement. The ribs give the rubber flex without tearing, and the shape guards exactly where a player rolls off the foot. Everything around it is kept deliberately calm: low leather, three rows of perforated holes where other models carry stitched stripes, and a flat sole.

Then it walked onto the stage

In the mid-eighties a group from Queens wore this model without laces, tongue pushed out. When they sang about it in a sold-out New York hall and the crowd held its shoes up in the air, adidas watched something happen it had done nothing to set up. What followed was a sponsorship deal with musicians instead of athletes, an unheard-of move for a sports brand then, and in hindsight the start of sneaker culture as we know it.

Why it stuck around

The Superstar survived because it has two lives. On the court it was a tool, off it a uniform. Within the family the Superstar 80s sits closer to the original build, and anyone after the brand’s wider court story looks to the adidas Court family. A heavyweight that wears its armor on the toe.

On this page you can see which versions of the adidas Superstar are running hottest right now according to the Hypescore, from what price they’re available, and how many shops have them in stock.