The Adidas Archive

The adidas story is one of groundbreaking designs, epic moments, and conceiving the all-around sports shoe, worn by the likes of Lionel Messi, Run DMC, and Madonna.

It all started in their mother’s laundry room in the quiet German town of Herzogenaurach. There, Adolf Dassler—known to everyone as “Adi”—and his brother Rudolf made their first pair of sports shoes. Hundreds of groundbreaking designs, epic moments, and star-studded collabs later, this book presents the first visual review of the adidas shoe through more than 357 models including never-before-seen prototypes and one-of-a-kind originals.

Shot using the highest reproduction techniques, these images reveal the fine details as much as the stains, the tears, the repair tape, the grass smudges, the faded autographs. It’s all here, unmanipulated and captured in extremely high resolution—and with it comes to light the personal stories of each individual wearer.