A Samba-ish adidas Sneaker Goes Beautifully Bottega
It's autumn for the rest of the world. For adidas, it's Spezial season.
The brand has been cooking up all sorts of Spezial models this fall, including freshly woven Handball Spezial shoes.
The newest Handball Spezial goes night mode, appearing in this dark colorway called "Aurora Onyx." Underneath the low-key color scheme, adidas unleashes an equally impressive construction, with woven leather underlays topped by plush suede touches (it also features creamy leather interiors).
The nice materials create this luxury-level feel. The intertwined leather, in particular, feels very Bottega-Veneta-coded, sharing a similar vibe with the label's intrecciato leather pieces.
Sure, it'd be wonderful if Bottega Veneta got its own adidas Handball Spezial, or any adidas shoe collab for that matter. But this woven leather shoe is purely adidas, and it's pretty darn good.
And for those wondering, the "Aurora Onyx" Handball Spezial is now available on adidas Japan's website for ¥25,300, around $161.
Again, adidas' Spezial shoes has been making a lot of noise here lately, appearing in various (and extremely trendy) forms like hiking boots and even boat shoes.
adidas is even reinventing the Handball Spezial, rethinking it as a super-flat sneaker and, now, a Bottega-style stepper.
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