After years of being inundated with hype and noise in the sneaker industry, young consumers especially were seeking authenticity-products and brands with history and a legacy.

As the brand with “original” in its name, the Three Stripes were uniquely poised to meet them like no other brand.

To do this, a simple construct emerged:the journey of adidas Originals from sport to culture, shot through the eras, made to feel more curated than created. Replicating the codes and capture-styles and technologies of the eras from which the brand was born and taken.

Three films, for the Brand with the Three Stripes.

Across the world, as more brands were giving into hype culture and feeding the perpetual headline cycle of flash-in-the-pan products and stunts, young consumers were looking for something authentic more than ever.

So rather than feed into this culture of noise, adidas Originals turned to one of its most enduring icons—Superstar—and celebrated its movement from sport to culture and the 1000 Originals who stood in it.

In a time when authenticity is the most powerful tool a brand can offer to Gen-Z, our campaign was one of curation, not creation, as we paid homage to the real communities who took the Superstar from the court where it was born, to all walks of culture and life.

“Superstar” traces the iconic silhouette’s journey from sport to culture, paying homage to the real individuals, communities, and cities that adopted the shoe, and gave it meaning.

Spanning over five decades, the film is set to the driving beat of Giorgio Moroder’s “Tears,” with a brief interlude from Superstar icons Run-DMC explaining why they don’t wear laces in their shoes.

The journey begins in 1970s New York where pro and street basketball players were the first to bring the novel ‘shell toe’ on the scene. Quickly spreading into the worlds of culture, the Superstar went on to steal every stage it’s seen on. From b-boys, to hip hop culture, downtown skaters, to Jungle ravers, pirate radio, and Nu metal heads, around the world.

Each chapter celebrates the 1000 Originals who stood in the Superstars throughout time, making the Three Stripes what it is today.

In 2023, adidas Originals was beginning to build momentum; but with the 50th anniversary of hip-hop and many more culturally significant events in play, it was time for the brand to reset in a big way.

So we set out to ignite the Trefoil in culture not with a new product, but one of its most classic—the Superstar—to present the story of how adidas Originals was taken up by the worlds of sport, and taken further by culture.

As younger consumers were beginning to look to brands with substance over commercial hype, adidas Originals was uniquely poised to reintroduce itself to this new consumer—tracing the brand’s influence and adoption throughout eras, countries, cultures, and subcultures.

With a mission to engage this consumer, to build even more heat into the brand, and turn eyes to our most iconic products, we set out to show the world what makes adidas Originals, original.

To date the campaign has earned:

1.6 billion video views

32 million engagement

Introduced the highest performing and most watched content for @adidasoriginals of all time.

Samba became Shoe of the Year for 2023—adidas Originals’ biggest win since 2016.