Issue #336 | Sneaker Sales for Sambas Will Likely Peak Soon, But Adidas Has a Plan

Sneaker Sales for Sambas Will Likely Peak Soon, But Adidas Has a Plan

All that goes up must come down, it’s said. And over the past few years, the Adidas Samba and its kissing cousins, the Gazelle and Spezial, have seen record-high sales. So now what? “Obviously and clearly, this trend will not last forever,” Thomas Joekel, a portfolio manager at a Frankfurt-based investment firm, which holds Adidas shares, told Fast Company. But the German footwear brand isn’t going to stand idly by as consumer preferences shift before their very eyes. Here’s what Adidas has in store for the post-Samba world we’ll soon be living in.

Fast Company

This Shirt Is Made for Going With the Flow

[Partner] You can’t control everything. Sometimes it’s best to take things as they come, which only makes life easier in the end. Now, there’s a layer that’s made just for that mindset, whether it’s time to roll with the punches, ride a summertime high, or let all the nonsense just pass on by. Wellen’s Wabi Sabi shirt, which takes its name from the Japanese phrase for embracing imperfection, is cut and sewn with 100 percent organic cotton in a soft, loose weave that provides plenty of airflow. Pair it with a devil-may-care attitude, and you’ll be well on your way to a blissed out summer.

Chill out with the Wabi Sabi shirt.

Red Light Therapy Masks Are Soaring in Popularity, But How Do They Work?

It’s only natural to get wrinkles as you age—and to wonder what, exactly, can be done to get rid of them. Is the answer Botox? Smiling less? Refraining from furrowing that brow? Social media is awash in remedies to keep unwanted facial lines at bay, but a certain corner has a neon glow. According to experts and a few studies, red light therapy can make fine lines and wrinkles disappear by stimulating the creation of particular proteins that improve skin elasticity. One writer at Wired set out to see what the popular treatment could do for them—and, possibly, you.

Wired

Who is Stan Smith? A New Film Uncovers the Tennis and Footwear Legend

Timed conspicuously with Adidas’s Samba predicament, under their Uninterrupted imprint, LeBron James and Maverick Carter are putting a spotlight on the brand, in a way, with a new documentary. In 1963, Adidas put out its first tennis shoe, the Stan Smith, which has since become one of the most popular lines ever produced by the company, gaining followings across cultures and generations. But for all its fame, its fans don’t think of Smith, the number one tennis player, “a SoCal James Bond, Sean Connery in country club kit,” writes the Guardian, when they hear that name. Like a spirited tennis match, that might quickly change.

The Guardian

For Years, Sylvester Stallone Secretly Owned a Legendary Watch—Now It's Up for Sale

“Sylvester Stallone is one of the most influential watch collectors of the last 30 years,” is a sentence we didn’t expect to read. But if Cam Wolf of GQ says it to be true, then we can’t argue. Anchoring the legendary actor’s soon-to-be-sold-off timepieces is an unworn Patek Philippe Grandmaster Chime 6300, marking the first time ever the complex, alarm-equipped model will be up for sale (kinda—Wolf explains). While the other 10 watches in Stallone’s set will still ask a pretty penny, for this one, you’re going to want to put aside something close to a chilly $5M.

Is your Apple watch actually waterproof? A menswear guru dishes on the denim they’re excited about right now. These high-end Sony hearing aids have an ear bud–like design. The best ways to keep your sneakers minty fresh. The 2025 Superman movie costume has been revealed—there are trunks.

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