About

adidas Campus

Suede is an accent on most sneakers. On the Campus it’s the starting point: the entire upper is made from it, and that determines how the shoe looks, feels and ages. Anyone who places it next to a leather model immediately sees why it appears softer without looking sloppy.

00s or 80s: two shoes, one name

Before you look further: practically every Campus you see here carries 00s or 80s after the name, and that’s not a year but a version. The 80s follows the narrower, lower proportions of the original shoe. The 00s is noticeably built wider and taller, with a thicker midsole and a fuller silhouette — the same parts, different proportions. They therefore fit differently, so when comparing pay attention to which of the two you’re looking at.

Look at the edge of the stripes

This is the detail most people miss. The three stripes don’t have straight but scalloped edges, with perforations in them, making them look like they bite into the suede rather than sit on top of it. On a Gazelle the stripes lie like flat bands on the panel; here they have become part of the surface.

Wide where the rest is narrow

The silhouette is lower and wider than that of its relatives. The midsole is thicker and sits on a gum outsole, which makes the shoe look heavier than a Samba but also plants it more firmly on the ground. The name is printed on the side panel, and there’s a leather patch on the heel.

From the court to the record shop

The Campus comes from basketball, but its second life is better known than its first. In the eighties and nineties it was picked up by hip-hop groups who made the model part of their regular kit — like the Superstar, but with suede instead of a shell toe. Since then it returns every ten years as if it never left.

On this page you’ll see which versions of the adidas Campus are hottest right now according to the Hypescore, the starting prices they’re available from, and how many shops have them in stock.