Ah, the adidas Gazelle! Regarded by many sneakerheads to be one of the most iconic silhouettes in history, even though it’s been around since the ’60s, this shoe hasn’t changed one bit over the past six decades. And there’s a reason for that, because when you design and create a trainer this perfect, there’s absolutely no need to do anything to it. It’s timeless. It’s legendary. It’s a stone-cold classic.
But even though you might have one or two (or three or ten) pairs in your rotation, there’s probably some stuff about this mythical adidas model that you had no idea about. So, in this article, we’ll be going through five things about the adidas Gazelle that you didn’t know. Let’s get to it!
While the Gazelle is now known more as a lifestyle shoe, when it was first introduced back in 1966, it was originally designed as a training sneaker. However, during the late ’70s, adidas was desperately trying to fill a gap in the ever-growing handball market. So rather than just creating a brand new silhouette from scratch, the German sportswear company simply delved into its vast archives and tweaked the Gazelle. With its durable leather and suede upper and grippy gum midsole, it was the ultimate option.
A lot of sneakerheads don’t know this, but the Gazelle was actually the sequel to an old school running shoe named the Olympiade. Surprising, right? When it first launched back in the day, it was only available in two colourways including the Gazelle Blue and the Gazelle Red. The former was created for indoor activities, while the latter for outdoor. Around 1983 and 1984, the Herzogenaurach-based brand unleashed the Gazelle Lime, adding a third colour combo to the mix.
Sometimes even the best of us can get in a spot of bother, and that’s exactly what happened to the Gazelle. Between ’72 and ’79, the mighty model kept drifting in and out of adidas’ catalogues, leading many fans to believe that the end was near. In fact, the Three Stripes even unleashed blue and red versions of a new trainer known as the Jaguar. And while it was marketed as a direct follow-up (hence the name), people just couldn’t let go of the Gazelle, so it was brought back for good.
It’s no secret the the Gazelle was huge in the UK. As mentioned before, the shoe was originally designed for training and then for handball, but football fans just couldn’t get enough of it, and it was regularly spotted on the terraces of big matches across the country. On top of that, during the Britpop movement, bands like Oasis and Blur would regularly sport the silhouette. Both Liam and Noel Gallagher would later get their own signature pairs that would sell for thousands and thousands on the resale market.
Back in 2022, luxury Italian fashion house Gucci made the shock announcement that it would be collaborating with adidas for a full sneaker and apparel collection. At the time, nobody really knew what model they’d work on, but it was later revealed to be the Gazelle. Ex-creative director Alessandro Michele crafted them from extremely premium materials like leather and suede and velvet, and he even introduced a runway-ready edition called the Gazelle Platform.
