Adidas Samba
Encyclopedia
Adidas
Adidas AG is a German sports apparel manufacturer and parent company of the Adidas Group, which consists of the Reebok sportswear company, TaylorMade-Adidas golf company , and Rockport...
Samba is an indoor soccer
Indoor soccer
Indoor soccer or arena soccer, or six-a-side football in the United Kingdom, is a game derived from association football adapted for play in an indoor arena such as a turf-covered hockey arena or skating rink. The most important difference in play is that the indoor field is surrounded by a wall...
training shoe. It has been among Adidas' most popular, best selling shoes in recent times, the second best sold Adidas shoe ever with over 35 million sold pairs worldwide, behind the legendary Adidas Stan Smith
Adidas Stan Smith
Adidas Stan Smith is a tennis shoe made by Adidas.Stan Smith was an American tennis star of the 1960s and '70s. Adidas approached him to endorse the Haillet shoe in 1971....
. It is produced in a variety of color schemes, yet the classic black with three white stripes is the most popular. The shoe features a tan gumsole that distinguishes it from other Adidas shoes.
The shoe was first produced in 1950 to enable association football players to train on icy hard ground (hence the suction on the gumsole). Its original design featured the classic three stripes, as well as the gold trefoil on the foldable tongue. As years progressed, the Samba evolved into the Samba Millennium (which was made without the extended tongue) and the Samba '85. Classic models of the shoe are still in production, under the name Classic M. the original model is sometimes used for training, street play, and futsal.
- Samba 62
- Samba 85
- Samba JP
- Samba NUA
- Samba MTL
- Samba 523
- Samba OT-Tech
In popular culture
The popularity of the Adidas Samba as a soccer shoe has caused it to transcend the soccer courts and move into popular culture, mostly worn as a fashion sneaker, and makes many appearances both on the silver screen and on television.- Some of these appearances include:
- Owen WilsonOwen WilsonOwen Cunningham Wilson is an American actor and writer, known for his roles in the films The Haunting, The Royal Tenenbaums, Zoolander, Meet the Parents, Wedding Crashers, You, Me and Dupree, Bottle Rocket, the Cars series, The Darjeeling Limited, Marley & Me, Midnight in Paris, Shanghai Noon,...
's character Randy Dupree wears a pair of Adidas Samba K (a classic model that uses kangaroo leather) virtually the whole time in the 2006 film You, Me, and Dupree. - The song "Olé" by The Bouncing SoulsThe Bouncing SoulsThe Bouncing Souls are a punk rock band from New Brunswick, New Jersey, formed in 1987. By the time of their acknowledgment by the national punk rock scene, they had reignited a "pogo" element to New Jersey punk rock by playing fast light-hearted songs, a model followed by various other local...
features the lines: Lace your Sambas, get on out/Off we go to kick it about. - Shia LaBeoufShia LaBeoufShia Saide LaBeouf is an American actor who became known among younger audiences for his part in the Disney Channel series Even Stevens and made his film debut in Holes . In 2007, he starred as the leads in Disturbia and Transformers...
's character Sam Witwicky wears a pair of black Sambas in the 2009 film Transformers: Revenge of the FallenTransformers: Revenge of the FallenTransformers: Revenge of the Fallen is a 2009 American science fiction-action film directed by Michael Bay and produced by Steven Spielberg. It is the sequel to the 2007 film Transformers and the second installment in the live-action Transformers series...
. - The shoe was a favorite in the 1970s LiverpoolLiverpoolLiverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
football casualsCasualsThe casual subculture is a subsection of association football culture that is typified by football hooliganism and the wearing of expensive European designer clothing. The subculture originated in the United Kingdom in the early 1980s when many hooligans started wearing designer labels and...
/scallyScallyScallie or Scally, is originally short for Scallywag, but is now most-often used in the context of a slang term for a hooligan youth subculture, similar to "chav", but with different origins. It describes mostly young, "dole class" people....
subculture; indeed the shoe is an icon in the UK along with Reebok ClassicsReebok ClassicsClassics are a brand of training shoe made by Reebok.The Reebok Classic trainer was launched originally in 1987. They were usually made with a leather upper and have a clean, simple and straight forward design and are closely related to the Reebok Freestyle...
. - Every football player in the 2000 film Remember the TitansRemember the TitansRemember the Titans is a 2000 American sports film produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and directed by Boaz Yakin. Inspired by real events, the plot was conceived from a screenplay written by Gregory Allen Howard. The film starts as a new coach of the Titans, a football team previously coached by the...
can be seen wearing Sambas either on the field or around. - Ashton KutcherAshton KutcherChristopher Ashton Kutcher , best known as Ashton Kutcher, is an American actor, producer, former fashion model and comedian, best known for his portrayal of Michael Kelso in the Fox sitcom That '70s Show...
wears Adidas Sambas in the 2010 film Valentine's DayValentine's Day (film)Valentine's Day is a 2010 American romantic comedy film directed by Garry Marshall and based on the novel by Michael Connelly. The screenplay and the story was written by Katherine Fugate, Ivan Reitman, Jason Reitman, Akiva Goldsman, Rob Reiner, P. J...
and on That 70's Show. - Freddie MercuryFreddie MercuryFreddie Mercury was a British musician, singer and songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist of the rock band Queen. As a performer, he was known for his flamboyant stage persona and powerful vocals over a four-octave range...
, the lead singer of QueenQueen (band)Queen are a British rock band formed in London in 1971, originally consisting of Freddie Mercury , Brian May , John Deacon , and Roger Taylor...
wore white Sambas during the live performance of "Bohemian RhapsodyBohemian Rhapsody"Bohemian Rhapsody" is a song by the British rock band Queen. It was written by Freddie Mercury for the band's 1975 album A Night at the Opera...
". - Eddie MurphyEddie MurphyEdward Regan "Eddie" Murphy is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, singer, director, and musician....
as Axel Foley is seen wearing a pair of white Country 0 with green stripes in the 1984 film Beverly Hills CopBeverly Hills CopBeverly Hills Cop is a 1984 American comedy-action film directed by Martin Brest and starring Eddie Murphy, Lisa Eilbacher, John Ashton, Judge Reinhold, and Ronny Cox...
. - Adrian GrenierAdrian GrenierAdrian Grenier is an American actor, musician and director. He is best known for his lead role on the HBO original series, Entourage, as Vincent Chase.-Early life:...
's character Vincent Chase, in HBO's EntourageEntourage (TV series)Entourage is an American comedy-drama television series that premiered on HBO on July 18, 2004 and concluded on September 11, 2011, after eight seasons...
, is seen wearing white Sambas with black stripes in Season 6 episode 10 "Berried Alive".
- Owen Wilson
- These have the Adidas Samba Super:
- Gary WindassGary WindassGary Windass is a fictional character in the UK television ITV soap opera, Coronation Street. Portrayed by actor Mikey North, the character first appeared onscreen during the episode airing on 14 November 2008.-Background:...
in Coronation StreetCoronation StreetCoronation Street is a British soap opera set in Weatherfield, a fictional town in Greater Manchester based on Salford. Created by Tony Warren, Coronation Street was first broadcast on 9 December 1960...
. - Aiden Scotcher in Waterloo RoadWaterloo Road (TV series)Waterloo Road is an award-winning British television drama series, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 9 March 2006. Set in a troubled comprehensive school in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, the series focuses on the lives of the school's teacher and students, and confronts social...
. - Ewan McgregorEwan McGregorEwan Gordon McGregor is a Scottish actor. He has had success in mainstream, indie, and art house films. McGregor is perhaps best known for his roles as heroin addict Mark Renton in the drama Trainspotting , young Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Star Wars prequel trilogy , and poet Christian in the...
wears a pair of burgundy adidas Samba Super Suede in TrainspottingTrainspotting (film)Trainspotting is a 1996 British satirical/drama film directed by Danny Boyle based on the novel of the same name by Irvine Welsh. The movie follows a group of heroin addicts in a late 1980s economically depressed area of Edinburgh and their passage through life...
in the role of Mark Renton, 1996.
- Gary Windass