Adidas Stan Smith is a tennis shoe made by Adidas, and first launched in 1965. Originally named "Adidas Robert Haillet" after the brand endorsed French prominent player Robert Haillet, in 1978 the sneakers were renamed after Stan Smith, an American tennis player who was active between the end of the 1960s and the beginning of the 1980s.
The shoe, usually made with a white leather upper and laces, has a simple design. Unlike most Adidas shoes, it does not have the external three stripes. Instead there are three rows of perforations (or punched ventilation holes) on both sides of each shoe's leather upper. There is sometimes a sketched picture of Stan Smith on the tongue of the shoe. In some sense, the Adidas branding is minimal on the shoe. The design and form of the shoe has basically stayed the same since it was introduced, but several new versions and colorways have appeared during the years.
History
Origins
In 1963, the first Adidas tennis shoe was produced, which was the first ever leather tennis shoe and marked the beginning of a long line of classic Adidas shoes. The upper part of the shoe is made of white leather, whereas the pimpled outer sole is made of rubber. The inner sole is made of synthetic material. It was Horst Dassler, the son of Adolf "Adi" Dassler – the founder of Adidas, who had the idea of the first leather tennis shoe. In 1965, this tennis shoe model was named the adidas Robert Haillet after the French tennis professional Robert Haillet. When Haillet retired from tennis, Adidas and Horst Dassler decided to find another tennis player that could endorse the tennis shoe model. Donald Dell, an American tennis manager, suggested Stan Smith, who took the offer in order to obtain royalties for the use of his name. For Adidas, the shoe became a market opener in the United States. In 1967, a green foam padding was added at the back of the shoe for Achilles tendon protection.
Stan Smith
In 1973, Stan Smith signed a contract with Adidas. According to Sneaker Report, this contract is on 13th place of the 50 most influential sneaker sponsorships in sports history. For some reason, Adidas could not decide at first if the model should still be called Robert Haillet or if it should be renamed to Stan Smith, so for several years (1973–1978) the shoe was produced with a tongue that had Stan Smith's portrait and the word Haillet written above it. In 1978, the word "Haillet" was removed from the tongue, and the shoe was endorsed by Stan Smith and officially renamed the Adidas Stan Smith.
1980s to 2000s
By 1988, about 22 million pairs of adidas Stan Smith shoes had been sold, and the shoe was listed in Guinness World Records. By 1994, the number of pairs sold had increased to 23.7 million.
At the turn of the 21st century, Adidas re-issued a new version of the shoe – Adidas Stan Smith II. In 2008, a replica of the original Adidas Stan Smith was released in the Adidas Originals line and was named Adidas Stan Smith 80s. In total, the Adidas Stan Smith has sold over 30 million pairs worldwide since 1971. There is even a source that claims that Adidas has sold 40 million pairs of the Adidas Stan Smith by 2005.
During a 17 November 2009 interview that aired on The Tony Kornheiser Show, former tennis pro and sports agent Donald Dell said the original Stan Smith green-tab shoe has been in production since 1972, and generated more than US$65 million in revenue in 2008. Dell added during the same interview that the shoe is now available in eight versions, and the model is the biggest-selling tennis shoe ever.
2010s
Complex Sneakers placed the Stan Smith at number 4 in its list of the 50 greatest tennis sneakers of all time, with the Robert Haillet model in 36th place. ShortList Magazine listed it among the 10 greatest sneakers made. Neal Heard, author of the sneaker cultural history Trainers, placed it 6th in his list of the top 10 sneakers of all time.
Despite its enormous success, Adidas briefly stopped production of the shoe in 2011. It was put back into production in 2014.