Adrift in a Sea of Sambas, It's DIY or Die (of Boredom)
To stave off boredom — the death knell of any potentially oversaturated shoe — Samba enjoyers are remixing their kicks to better suit their tastes. Across social media, from TikTok to Pintrest, there's an upsurge in customized Samba sneakers transformed by DIY embroidery, doilies, bows, and pins.
As 2022's hottest sneaker became 2023's most omnipresent sneaker, with everyone and their Coastal Grandma grabbing a pair, it became inevitable that some folks would ask: How to find fresh air when drowning in a sea of identical adidas Samba sneakers?
An understandable concern, and, according to an ever-growing sect of subversively stylish individuals, easily addressed. The solution to skirting Samba fatigue is to take the sneakers' design into your own hands, literally.
The resulting shoes are part art, entirely wearable, and utterly unique to their wearer, elevating a versatile daily driver into a veritable statement piece that's still as approachable as any standard Samba, just way more interesting.
We can give typically prescient designer Wales Bonner at least partial credit here.
Though Wales Bonner obviously didn't invent the idea of lacing up one's sneakers with ribbons, her recent Samba collaboration, a metallic silver take on the shoe, actually came with a pair of adidas-branded ribbon laces.
Really, if any one designer deserves singular credit for making the Samba a contemporary cultural icon, it's Wales Bonner, who's been quietly knocking out exquisitely tasteful Samba collaborations since Fall/Winter 2020, long before the shoe became the world's most popular staple sneaker.
As such, we ought to give Bonner credit not just for boosting the Samba's profile but also for being the godmother of contemporary customized Sambas — even her first adidas team-up yielded hand-stitched Sambas.
Timelessly timeless sneakers like adidas' Stan Smith and Nike's Dunk Low have always invited customization but the Samba remixes are unique.
Whereas it's not uncommon to see custom Dunks stuffed with dollar bills or Chrome Hearts bravado, the Samba's comparably fluid silhouette has invited more delicate transformations.
Obviously the artfully ornamental Sambas are the aspirational peak, but would-be customizers lacking the trained hands necessary to create more involved bespoke designs are still personalizing their Sambas by simply swapping the shoe's laces for ribbons.
It's inevitable that a ubiquitous sneaker will foster consumer exhaustion.
For instance, adidas' Stan Smith became the industry's "it" sneaker almost immediately after its market-dominating relaunch in 2014 but its omnipresence quickly hit critical mass. Within a couple years, the Stan Smith lost steam and, though it's still a handsome and readily attractive sneaker, it's no longer got that zazz.
At the moment, the adidas Samba is still very zazzy but industry trends hint at tastemakers at the cutting edge of culture seeking less-hyped alternatives, like Onitsuka Tiger's Mexico 66.
If you wanna go back to the roots of Samba customization it might be worth mentioning Maison Margiela's hand-doodled German Army Trainer shoes — the luxury label's Bundeswehr-inspired Samba-like — but contemporary Samba fiddling began in earnest a year ago.
The demand has evolved from niche fascination to a widespread customization movement that touches even the most casual Samba wearer.
Is it any surprise that someone being served the same à la carte meal, however delicious it may be, would eventually crave a little more spice?
