From Forrest Hills to Terraced Stadiums

The Rise of adidas in Terrace Culture

We have all heard the term ‘Terrace Culture’ but what really is it and where does it originate. Ironically it took many years until it was marketed towards how we associate it today. Long before football fan culture was at its peak a then young German shoe brand was focused on bringing the best shoes to market, albeit in the form of performance product in sports such as football, tennis & olympic disciplines.

Terrace footwear as we know it today all started with a new Tennis training shoe named after the iconic New York stadium and courts Forrest Hills. It should also be noted that the Forrest Hills complex was a must visit for touring artists throughout the years, from the likes of Jimi Hendrix & the Beatles to Arctic Monkeys & Nas.

When going through the adidas Archive and learning some of the deeper history of adidas it became clear that there is not a specific moment in time where Terrace footwear was born, it wasn’t due to developments in performance products, it wasn’t due to new colour ways and it wasn’t due to the availability of product. It was indeed all of this and much more.

When adidas introduced the ‘Boot Bag’ in 1955 this became an accelerator to football fans always having the iconic Trefoil logo in their hand and a fresh pair of shoes at the ready. Brand communication made the consumer aware that colours had meaning; Red Gazelle intended for indoor use and subsequently the Blue Gazelle for outdoor use. The Gazelle unlike the Samba which was engineered as a performance football product* was designed to be a ‘multi- purpose’ training shoe being light, durable & gripping to most surfaces.

*The first Samba boot was released in 1950 with the purpose of allowing the player to grip to snow and ice. The holes on the sole of the shoe allowed for snow to accumulate so the remaining sole would grip the surface. Due to it increased grip all players were seemingly ‘dancing’ on the pitch, this in turn gave this model the now iconic name Samba.
It wasn’t until a little later in the adidas story where the Samba saw further developments. In 1970 the first Samba indoor product was brought to market and it has not changed much since. If we look at the modern day adidas Samba we can see a lot of the details are identical, from the recognisable pattern on the outer sole of the shoe to the ridged lines forming the iconic 3 stripes on the side of the shoe.

Similar to terrace culture as we know it today there has been a lot of changes since the 70’s… products such as the Handball Spezial, Samba & Gazelle are now found in lifestyle retailers across the globe and adidas has continued to introduce new sport specific product developments across the board in products such as the ‘Predator’ which cater solely for performance. Seldom do you see a boot-bag being featured at a local match by someone who is not playing.

The continued rise of adidas in terrace culture was further glorified by global media. It wasn’t long until A-class celebrities and musicians alike adorned the 3 stripes. Some notable mentions of this are Kate Moss throughout the 90’s in her Red Gazelles, Oasis band and front man Noel Gallagher seemingly living in the 3 stripes and playing a massive part in creating the familiar ‘head-to-toe’ look we see in the terraces today.

As the original 70’s performance products cemented themselves as the daily ‘trainer’ for football fans, music go-ers & fashion heads alike adidas continued to do what it has always done… cater to the consumer! From the iconic City Series boasting a range of colour ways and locations; Hamburg, Glasgow & Berlin just to name a few meant the global consumer could relate to the product regardless of football affiliation or location. Collaborations allowed for new audiences to become familiar with the aforementioned classics; designers such as Wales Bonner, fashion houses such as Gucci & independent brands such as Sporty & Rich would put their twist on the Samba. Sean Wotherspoon, Noah & Neighbourhood would put their twist on the Gazelle. This is just to name a few and to show how many worlds a group of products, originally designed as performance footwear could not only influence but become a staple in!

I can only advise you to take a deep dive yourself and i guarantee that it wont be long until you see a iconic terrace silhouette pop up.