How the Three Stripes' low-top classic went from tennis silhouette to international style icon.

From tennis champion to signature silhouette, how the low-top classic became an international style icon.

Stan Smith Before Stan Smith
What we know as the Stan Smith today was actually introduced as adidas’ first in-line <a href="https://goat.com/collections/us-open">tennis</a> shoe in 1963. The shoe featured a leather upper, setting it apart from popular tennis shoes of the era, most of which were constructed of canvas. In 1965, adidas renamed the shoe after Robert Haillet, an adidas-endorsed tennis player who was the shoe’s namesake until his retirement in 1971.
Seeking a new athlete to hang the silhouette’s credentials and the brand’s ethos on, adidas brought in 27-year-old Stan Smith. After winning <a href="https://goat.com/collections/wimbledon">Wimbledon</a> in 1971 and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_rgq8Jlim4">again in 1972</a>, alongside winning the US Open that same year, Smith was rated the number-one rated tennis player in the world. adidas and Smith put pen to paper in 1973, but the Halliet name stuck. For the next five years, the shoe featured Stan Smith's portrait on the shoe’s tongue, with the word Haillet written above it. This changed in 1978 when Haillet’s last name was removed and the shoe was officially re-dubbed the Stan Smith.

Stan Smith After Stan Smith
The Stan Smith is a simple shoe. Like the Converse Chuck Taylor All-Star or the Nike Air Force 1, the <a href="https://www.goat.com/sneakers/silhouette/stan-smith">adidas Stan Smith</a> has been produced in countless versions and iterations. Undoubtedly, the sneaker’s most recognizable is its original makeup: Cloud White and Green.
The OG’s smooth white leather upper features medial and lateral perforations forming adidas’ Three Stripes on each side of the shoe. A contrasting “mustache” detail (coincidentally one of Smith’s most distinguished features) in green on the heel boasts the adidas trefoil logo and Stan Smith’s name. The tongue features an illustrated portrait of the man himself, also in green. Observant sneaker aficionados might notice the portrait actually shows Smith without his famous mustache. But why? “I’ve had a moustache from age 22,” he told <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/shortcuts/2014/jan/12/stan-smith-tennis-adidas-trainer">The Guardian</a>. “For about six months I shaved it off. That’s when they took the picture.”
From the ’80s on, Stan Smith sneakers sold fast. It didn’t take long for the shoe to transcend tennis and become a shoe that a lot of people wore for a lot of different reasons. While it’s impossible to isolate a singular reason for the Stan Smith’s sudden success, its uncomplicated, clean and timeless design is at least partly to thank. The classic white and green color didn’t discriminate against age, gender or taste, and, unlike some of the Stan Smith’s contemporaries, it’s a shoe that didn’t require street or fashion credentials to pull off.&nbsp;

Becoming an Original
As the millennium came to an end, the landscape of athletic footwear started to change. <a href="https://hypebeast.com/2021/4/stan-smith-adidas-originals-sole-mates-interview-tennis-player">Stan Smith himself</a> pinpoints 1995 as the year “it became no longer just a tennis shoe.”
adidas understood this shift, too, and in 2001 introduced adidas Originals, a collection of products reflective of the brand’s heritage, positioning the Stan Smith as a lifestyle product under the Originals banner. 
 
Despite the sneaker’s perennial popularity, adidas pulled it from distribution beginning in 2011. For the next few years, Stan Smith fans and collectors were forced to turn to secondary marketplaces, or scour their local flea markets and garage sales, to get their hands on the elusive shoe.

Stan Smith 'Fairway'

The Stan Smith Returns
This manufactured scarcity ended in 2014, the 50th anniversary of the Stan Smith; a year that marked the shoe’s biggest marketing push in history. Partnering with creative agency Lloyd &amp; Co., adidas officially brought back the Stan Smith as a retro release.
The Stan Smith was everywhere, worn by everyone from Gigi Hadid and Kendall Jenner to David Beckham and Kanye West. <a href="https://footwearnews.com/2014/influencers/power-players/fnaa-2014-shoe-of-the-year-adidas-stan-smith-388/">Footwear News</a> selected Stan Smiths as the shoe of the year. An onslaught of collaborations helped further the silhouette’s appeal, lending it an air of style credibility far beyond its everyday origins.

Raf Simons x Stan Smith 'White'

Among the most notable early collaborations came together in partnership with esteemed Belgian designer <a href="https://www.goat.com/editorial/raf-simons-movie-inspirations-runway-david-lynch">Raf Simons</a>. Simons took the Stan Smith to untapped, luxurious places with his <a href="https://www.goat.com/sneakers/raf-simons-x-stan-smith-bb6733">upscale version</a> of the tennis classic, replacing the standard Three Stripes with an “R,” formed in perforated dots on the buttery smooth leather upper
And Simons was just the tip of the iceberg. Collaborations with Parisian boutique colette, <a href="https://www.goat.com/sneakers/pharrell-x-stan-smith-black-future-gy4980">Pharrell Williams</a> and independent brands from around the world followed, introducing the Stan Smith to a new generation while simultaneously presenting the silhouette as a canvas for creativity.&nbsp;
Today Stan Smith styles can be found featuring global entertainment franchises such as Star Wars and Toy Story to hip-hop pioneers like Method Man. Taking a note out of Raf Simons’ book, <a href="https://www.goat.com/sneakers/the-muppets-x-stan-smith-kermit-the-frog-fy5460">Kermit the Frog</a> got his own Stan Smith in 2021, outfitting his collaborative iteration with perforations on the upper forming the letter “K.”

The Muppets x Stan Smith 'Kermit The Frog'

Coming Full Circle
In the years since the Stan Smith’s triumphant return, <a href="https://www.goat.com/sneakers/brand/adidas">adidas</a> has presented the celebrated silhouette in every material and color combination imaginable. The German giant even created special versions of the shoe that swapped out Stan Smith’s portrait on the tongue, replacing it with everyone from Ellen DeGeneres to Sneakersnstuff founders, Erik Fagerlind and Peter Jansson.
In just the last few years, the Three Stripes has brought the performance-turned-lifestyle silhouette full circle, outfitting the Stan Smith with two of its most important proprietary technologies: Primeknit and Boost. The result is a product that speaks both to its athletic heritage and its subsequent global adoption as an everyday staple. 
 
adidas is bringing the Stan Smith into the future of sustainability as well, creating the shoe with new and more responsible materials and manufacturing methods. The <a href="https://www.goat.com/sneakers/stan-smith-mylo-h23049">Stan Smith Mylo</a>, for instance, is the first adidas sneaker made using a mushroom-based material that looks and feels like leather. Similarly, the <a href="https://www.goat.com/sneakers/stan-smith-primegreen-le-spikeless-golf-green-s29262">Stan Smith Primegreen</a> features an upper made of 50% recycled content and zero virgin polyester.
Never Looking Back
In 1963, adidas changed the footwear game, foregoing canvas in place of leather with their first in-line tennis shoe. A few names and thousands of reimaginings later, the shoe’s influence has only continued to grow, becoming inseparable from sneaker culture as we know it today.&nbsp;
From cult favorite to universal appeal, Stan Smith—the man and the shoe—now represents some of the richest and most inspiring moments in adidas’ history. And there’s no question the Stan Smith will continue to shape sneaker culture and the legacy of adidas tomorrow.

Related Articles: <a href="https://www.goat.com/editorial/yeezy-sneakers-history">History of Yeezys</a>, <a href="https://www.goat.com/editorial/nike-blazer-history">History of Nike Blazer</a>, <a href="https://www.goat.com/editorial/beginners-guide-to-adidas-nmd">Beginner's Guide to NMDs</a>, <a href="https://www.goat.com/editorial/how-to-clean-sneakers">How to Clean Sneakers</a>.

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