Let’s get one thing clear: The German Army Trainer is a design owned by nobody. It’s an iconic part of footwear history that has been replicated hundreds of times to extremely similar specs by almost every brand that’s ever made a shoe. 

Arguably the most successful of those has been Maison Martin Margiela, whose aptly named Replica sneakers have long been the go-to luxe configuration of the understated GAT. But it was one of the Dassler brothers who originally drew up the design.

The debate continues today whether it was Adolf or Rudolf Dassler (founders of adidas and PUMA respectively) who first envisioned the shoe, but discourse generally cites the adidas BW Army as the first iteration of it.

So while Margiela might have a monopoly in the luxury realm, the adidas BW Army is a proposition that’s hard to deny considering its price tag is several times cheaper than its high-end counterpart.

Margiela managed to differentiate its designs by option for bold finishes like, for example, a fully shined, patent iteration in bold tonal hues.

Until now, adidas has reserved its BW Army silhouette for the classic hues but now it’s breaking free, and it’s seriously competing with the avant-garde options offered to the high-end market.

Its latest drop mimics the shiny, seemingly shrink-wrapped versions of Margiela to a tee. Finished in tonal black with white laces and lining, it’s a striking new chapter for the adidas BW Army.

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