The New adidas Samba Doesn’t Look Like One
Another day, another Samba. Well, sorta.
adidas' Samba 62, while technically a Samba sneaker, looks more like the buzzy SL72 shoe, thanks to its thickened dual-toned outsole and narrow upper.
Where a classic Samba sneaker would wear the adidas logo parallel to the Three Stripes, adidas' Samba 62 boasts gold lettering near the heel. It also features an extended heel tab that’s not found on the tab-less standard Samba shoe.
adidas Samba 62 "Core Black/Cloud White/Bluebird" is just one in a series of recent Samba-adjacent drops from the Three Stripes though it's also quite notable in its own right, not least of which because it's a presumably 60-year-old silhouette.
Last year, adidas reissued the SL72, a low-profile, slim sneaker that has received co-signs from Wales Bonner, perhaps the single most influential Samba collaborator, and thousands of TikTok users who appreciate the slight height it offers over the famously flat Samba sneaker.
The Country is another Samba-adjacent sneaker that adidas recently re-released, boosting its visibility both with many in-line colorways and the occasional collaboration.
Last year, for instance, Song for the Mute dropped a ponyhair Country that scratches the same itch as Bonner’s in-demand ponyhair Samba, sans the $2,000 price tag.
The adidas Samba 62 follows along those lines, what with its throwback running shoe silhouette, but that it's a Samba in name alone nevertheless makes it a standout oddity. It's available on adidas' website from January 23.
adidas' Samba might be played out, but clearly, adidas isn’t quite ready to move on from the classic shoe.
With seemingly unlimited Samba alternatives in the archive, why not?
