Vintage Adidas - the spirit of a century

Hardly any fashion brand has shaped the sports world like Vintage adidas. In the Zeitgeist Vintage online shop you have the opportunity to buy exclusive vintage adidas pieces, and we also have a wide range of second-hand items from adidas.

Feel free to browse online and see what you like. In this article you will learn everything you need to know about the most famous clothing brand from Germany.

Founding and first successes of adidas

adidas naming was influenced by its founder. Adolf Dassler was always addressed as “Adi” by friends and family. Together with the first three letters of his last name, this resulted in the company name “Adi Das”-ssler or adidas.

Adolf Dassler was a war veteran and shoemaker himself. In the late 1920s and early 1930s, athletic shoes were not widely used. There were simply none that would only be used for sporting purposes, so adidas was out of the question.

Adidas Adi Dassler, as an athlete and shoemaker, recognized this need and began to tinker himself after his return from the war. This became " Gebrüder Dassler Schuhfabrik" in 1924 when his older brother Richard joined the company.

A first nationwide product innovation succeeded in establishing running shoes with spikes, which were suitable for many sports. These were later no longer made of metal but of rubber. Which made the shoe lighter.

Breakthrough through Summer Games

The American sprinter Jesse Owens, whom Adi Dassler was able to convince to wear his shoes at the 1936 Summer Games, had the first international success. Jesse Owen's running success with 4 gold medals in adidas shoes brought the young company so much attention that they were able to book solid sales as a result.

Two incredible stories from adidas history are these:

1. The power supply in provincial Germany was still so unreliable in the 1920s that the Dassler brothers had to generate their machines using a stationary bicycle. That means an employee or even Adi Dassler himself had to ride a bicycle to keep the machines running.

2. After the Second World War , the shoe factory was to be briefly demolished by the Americans, which would have meant an abrupt end for adidas. The wife of the founder, Käthe, was able to persuade the occupiers to keep the adidas factory in Herzogenaurach.

adidas & Puma - brothers and rivals

Two of the most popular brands in our online shop are vintage adidas and Puma . For some it's common knowledge, for others it's hard to believe, but the founders of the two companies are brothers .

The adidas founder had previously opened a joint workshop with his brother, but after some disagreements they parted ways in 1947 . Adi Dassler founded adidas AG two years after the separation.

The brothers' quarrel had an impact on their entire hometown: Visitors to Herzogenaurach would also have referred to it as a town with crooked necks, since they asked on their feet first: "Does the person wear adidas or Puma?" and then looks in the face.

This sometimes led to strange arguments that can only happen within the family:

1. When craftsmen or other people visit Rudolf Dassler for work privately, they always wear adidas. Why? Because then they got a pair of Puma shoes as a present.
2. Unfortunately, the adidas founder was no longer reconciled with his brother, and they are also at the graveyard in Herzogenaurach with the greatest possible distance from each other.

What distinguishes vintage adidas?

There are many reasons for wearing adidas vintage clothes. In the next sections we have summarized the 3 most relevant .

1. Good quality

Compared to fast-fashion products, old Adidas products are mostly of high quality. This is because the production processes were very different 20 years ago than they are today.

1. recognition value

Everyone knows exactly what three stripes mean on a piece of clothing. It's from adidas. Adidas is just as strong of the brand as, for example, Nike , Apple or Ralph Lauren .

1. Old school look

Wearing vintage adidas clothes helps you develop your own old school vibe. There's no question that wearing clothes from the 90s is back in fashion these days. So if you like to wear sportswear such as jogging pants or hoodies , you're doing everything right with vintage clothing from adidas.