The adidas Gazelle Is a Sneaker for the Ages — Here’s Everything You Need to Know About the Iconic Shoe.
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Some of adidas’ most on-trend shoes are nearly as old as the brand itself — and that’s true of the brand’s latest ‘It’ sneaker, the adidas Gazelle. Certain adidas sneakers that dropped in the ’50s, ’60s, and ’70s were the pinnacle of athletic shoes at the time. And the brand is one of the greats at digging into its archives to put fresh spins on decades-old styles, often with the same structural integrity but modern fabrication and updates. The Sambas launched in the ’50s. Stan Smiths in the ’70s. And the aforementioned adidas Gazelle debuted in the ’60s.
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You’d be forgiven for not knowing how long the shoe has been around if it only came into your purview as of late. This is due largely in part to adidas’ ongoing collaborations. The 2022 adidas x Gucci sneaker collaboration blew other mashups out of the water, thanks to highly fashionable (and photographable) celebrities wearing them, like red carpet fit man Brad Pitt and style god Harry Styles.
But before making appearances on the likes of Pitt and Styles, Gazelles were a simple, understated, and revolutionary performance sneaker. Like many adidas shoes, Gazelles were born for a soccer field. The original design was the first suede performance shoe, which was more flexible than leather and didn’t take as long to break in. It came in two colors for two purposes: red for outdoors courts and blue for indoors. adidas changed up the soles of each of them to provide more traction to their respective fields.
Also like many adidas shoes, sports were the beginning of the shoe’s rise to fame but certainly not the end. Gazelles found their way into other subcultures — namely, ’90s BritPop — and onto the feet of some key famous people. There were the Beastie Boys, Run-DMC, Oasis frontman Noah Gallagher, and, of course, ’90s cultural icon Kate Moss, a vision of laidback coolness.
Courtesy of brand.
Celebrities love Gazelles now as much as they ever have. The sneaker has been reissued and updated with softer fabrics, new colors, and more emphasis on the fashion rather than performance details. In addition to the Guccis, some high-profile collaborations have made them a mainstay, too: Mastermind, Noah, and Supreme, to name a few.
The low profile and array of colors makes them easy to work into rotation. They feel super sporty, which makes them an especially great shoe to juxtapose with a suit, like Brad Pitt has been doing, or a slip dress. You can lean into the athletic appeal, too, and wear them with your favorite leggings-as-pants and statement jacket, a la Olivia Wilde.
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The shoe remains a classic because of its minimal, versatile style. Lean into the archive colors with those old-school blues and reds, or make it feel fully modern with the tonal, deconstructed Y-3 collab. Wear them as one of your-go to walking-around-town shoes on the weekends with wide-leg denim or sport them to work with a pair of tailored trousers and a simple white tee. That simple outfit — jeans or trousers and a single color T-shirt — makes an especially bold color Gazelle pop. The fashion crowd is into these right now, so however you wear them, you’ll be in good company.
The versatile shoe has spread its reach with different iterations over the years, including the women’s Bold take with a platform sole, ADVs that are built for skating, and a whole bunch of rich colorways in the classic shape. Shop the best adidas Gazelles for gifting, below.
adidas Gazelle
The classic, unisex adidas Gazelle design is a reissue of the 1991 style. The pebbled sole, signature three stripes, and fully early ’90s aesthetic design comes in 10 colorways.
adidas
adidas Gazelle
adidas Gazelle Bold
The Gazelle bold is on point with the platform sneaker trend we saw everywhere last summer. This stacked shoe and beige color is the perfect spring sneaker.
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adidas Gazelle Bold
adidas Y-3 Gazelle
Not to be outdone by Gucci, the Y-3 Gazelle is a strong contender for masterful mashups. This one is done up in a neutral tonal coloring with undone stitching for something both high-end and accessible.
adidas Y-3 Gazelle
adidas Gazelle ADV
The adidas Gazelle ADV has the same feel as your standard Gazelle but with a little more substance. The suede upper is reinforced with Adituff to protect the toes, and the rubber outsole offers a ton of grip on the ground.
adidas
adidas Gazelle ADV
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