Adidas is teaching an old shoe new tricks again. The iconic leather tennis shoe was originally released almost 60 years in 1965, except it wasn’t called the Stan Smith.
It was named after a French tennis pro of the era, Robert Haillet. The green foam padding most associate with the shoe also wasn’t an original design feature. That detail was added two years later, in 1967.
After Haillet retired from the game, Adidas decided to rename it after American tennis star Stan Smith in 1978, who, among other accolades, had won the U.S. Open in 1971, followed by Wimbledon in 1972.
After conquering tennis, the shoe has branched out to streetwear decades later and even golf more recently. With the launch of the new Velostan Stan Smith shoe, initially spotted by our friends at Acquiremag, you can add casual cycling to the list.
Like the Velosamba before it, the Velostan looks virtually identical to the standard version of the Stan Smith on the surface. The sole, however, now features 2-bolt SPD pedal compatibility and a new midsole plate for efficient power transfer to the pedal and comfort off the bike.
We’re only seeing e-commerce listings for the shoe on various international versions of the Adidas store right now. That said, we’d expect the shoe to sell stateside as well, and we’ll update the links here if we find them.
