Chapter 1
The birth of the rubber sole
Chapter 2
The court meets the street
Chapter 3
The global design revolution
Chapter 4
The modern hype machine
Ch 4 · The modern hype machine
adidas Platforms like StockX, founded in 2016, treat sneakers like commodities using real-time price charts, historical data, and professional authenticators.
Quiz
What is the slang term used to describe passionate sneaker collectors and enthusiasts?
Quiz
What digital platform, founded in 2016, revolutionized sneaker reselling by treating shoes like stocks with live price charts?
adidas Balenciaga and Gucci now design high-end sneakers that dominate global fashion runways.
Quiz
Which designer, who founded Off-White and became Louis Vuitton's artistic director, pioneered the 'deconstructed' sneaker look?
Quiz
Which French luxury fashion house famously collaborated with skate brand Supreme in 2017, merging high fashion with streetwear?
Fun Fact
Ocean trash shoes: The first prototype Adidas Parley shoe was stitched together using illegal deep-sea gillnets confiscated by sea shepherds.
Quiz
Which environmental organization did Adidas partner with in 2015 to make shoes out of recycled ocean plastic?
Quiz
Approximately how many plastic bottles' worth of waste are intercepted from beaches to make a single pair of recycled Adidas Parley shoes?
Glossary
hype (noun)
Extravagant or intensive publicity or promotion. Nike's 2020 collaboration with luxury house Dior leveraged this phenomenon to generate massive secondary market demand.
Extravagant or intensive publicity or promotion. Nike's 2020 collaboration with luxury house Dior leveraged this phenomenon to generate massive secondary market demand.
Quiz
What is the primary benefit of a 3D-printed lattice midsole compared to traditional foam?
Quiz
What futuristic manufacturing process is used to create Adidas' lattice-structured '4D' midsoles?