I am convinced that gum soles can change the whole character of a shoe. It can transform a mediocre 6/10 to a solid 9/10. Even Kendrick Lamar respects the gum sole hype, with his Reebok Classic x Kendrick Lamar Ventilator collaboration that dropped earlier in Summer 2015 also featuring this bad boy detail. It seems this was the gateway I needed to fully allow myself to appreciate Adidas Stan Smith as iconic, and the medallist himself.
I seldom have such a strong displeased opinion on modest shoes, with my main culprits leaning to more eccentric creps (did someone say Yeezys’…). But for some unfortunate reason I had never felt that same fondness that everyone else has for Stan Smiths'. Like my dismissal of Nando’s as moderate chicken served with big hype, I just never understood the Adidas Stan Smith buzz. As it is quite modest looking it wasn’t necessarily that I disliked the design itself. To me they were simply good looking white shoes, not the holy grail of white creps.
At first I thought it may be because of the green foam Achilles padding but I’m now almost certain that is it. Why, I hear you say? Because all of a sudden Adidas Stan Smith Gum-Sole came into my life and everything is all good – I’m pretty sure I’ve fallen for them to the point even the Original’s green foam padding no longer offends.
Not only was Smith a world renowned tennis player, ranking World No. 1 and two-time Grand Slam singles champion in the early ‘70s, but he apparently had a passion for skateboarding that inspired many – most importantly: Mark Gonzalez. Gonzalez is known across the skating scene as an iconic legend that truly paved the way for many. Yet early last year, as an exclusive alongside the revived retro release of the Stan Smith Skate line, Adidas shot a buzz video of Adidas’ greatest skaters talking about Stan Smith’s influence on the skating scene. The details are sketchy but even Gonzalez himself paid homage to Smith as the alleged originator and inspiration for a lot of the tricks that later paved the way for his own success, “I couldn’t take it … I’m videoing his moves to go back and watch it and copy them”. Even if just a folktale, the legend that is Stan Smith definitely lives on.
“TO ME THEY WERE SIMPLY GOOD LOOKING WHITE SHOES, NOT THE HOLY GRAIL OF WHITE CREPS”