What’s up with Samba? Adidas sneakers are a trend for fashionistas in 2024

This is changing nowadays, but if the old idea that wearing the same outfit is not a good idea applied to sneakers, an Adidas model wouldn’t be so popular around the world. The Samba, a classic from the German brand, is ubiquitous on the feet of celebrities, who don’t seem to mind being photographed wearing the same shoes over and over again. They even like them.

Samba shoes have become cool, in fact. So much so that Jennifer Lawrence, Timothée Chalamet, Maisa and Sasha Meneghel can’t get enough of the company’s relaunch. Harry Styles is another who never takes his off his feet: green, white, beige and red — the latter, almost a trademark of the singer. You don’t have to look far to find fans of the old-fashioned model, a breath of retro air among so many modern novelties in this field.

Data from Google Trends shows that searches for the model in Brazil have grown over the last five years, with the highest search volume in 2024. Interest in it on the platform increased 477% from January to July this year compared to the same period in 2023.

Before it became popular with the fashionable crowd, the Samba was only worn by football fans. It was created as a football shoe (which is why it looks like a football boot, but a little more delicate) specialized for icy pitches in Germany in the 1950s. Over the course of more than 70 years, the design has undergone several changes, and its success has come and gone.

The model most similar to the current one, with a straighter sole and low shaft, came out in 1990. Freddie Mercury was the one who wore the pair in the past. It was wearing the shoes, in white with traditional black side stripes, that he performed with Queen at the Live Aid music festival in 1985, one of the band’s most iconic performances.

According to data from the Pinterest platform, search interest in sneakers grew 200% in July 2024 compared to the same month in 2023. The visual social network is widely used by fashionistas for clothing inspiration and in the search for trends, and searches for “adidas samba looks” saw an increase of 1,000%.

Samba’s success is so great that it worries rival Nike. According to the American newspaper Bloomberg, the American competitor registered a 10% drop in online sales in the first quarter of 2024 and demand remained weak in April, May and June.

The high interest boosted Adidas’ profit forecast for the year, which rose from €500 million (approximately R$3 billion) to €700 million (R$4.6 billion).

In addition to the help of celebrities, the sneaker does its part to win over so many people thanks to the wide variety of colors, styles and models: brown with yellow, navy blue, lilac, light blue, all leather, leather with fabric, pink, orange, shiny, with tractor soles, and so on. It’s not cheap, but it’s far from being one of those ultra-hype releases, signed by sports or Hollywood stars, at stratospheric prices. On the official Adidas website in Brazil, prices range from R$699.99 to R$899.99.