Don’t call it a comeback: Why Adidas’ Stan Smiths are everywhere

The coolest shoe on the street is a 44-year-old from an earlier era.

The Adidas Stan Smith seems suddenly ubiquitous, but its rise hasn’t been as sudden as it seems. Adidas had already sold more than 40 million pairs of the shoes, when it decided to breathe new life into an old classic by first completely wiping it off the market in 2012 and then reintroducing it with careful, almost surgical precision in 2014. This was accompanied by an aggressive marketing push, with social media celebs and influencers such as Celine designer Phoebe Philo and singer Pharrell Williams at the forefront.