The History of Adidas
It was born from the feud between two brothers who split a German town into rival camps. Adidas's story runs through Jesse Owens, the Miracle of Bern, a bankruptcy avoided and the return of the Samba to tell how a global sports brand is built.
In the Bavarian town of Herzogenaurach, for decades, people would look at the shoes of whoever was across from them before saying hello. Whoever wore one brand did not speak with whoever wore the other. They called it the town of bent necks, and it all came from the fight between two brothers: the Dasslers.
Two brothers and a shoe factory
Adolf, Adi, and Rudolf Dassler were the sons of a cobbler. In 1924 they founded together the Gebrüder Dassler Schuhfabrik, the Dassler Brothers Shoe Factory. Adi was the craftsman and innovator; Rudolf, the salesman. Their great moment came in 1936, when American sprinter Jesse Owens won four gold medals at the Berlin Olympics wearing Dassler shoes, a feat that, in front of the Nazi regime, put their footwear on the world stage.
The divorce that split a town
The brothers' relationship deteriorated during World War II, fed by friction between their wives and by Rudolf's suspicion that Adi had something to do with his conscription and brief post-war imprisonment. In 1948 Rudolf left and founded his own company, which would soon be called Puma. On August 18, 1949, Adi registered Adidas, a name built from Adi Das, from Adi Dassler.
The river Aurach split the town: Puma to the south, Adidas to the north. Workers drank at different bars and used different bakeries and barbershops. The brothers never reconciled; they are buried at opposite ends of the Herzogenaurach cemetery.
The three stripes and the Miracle of Bern
In March 1949 Adi registered the three stripes on his shoes. Legend, never officially confirmed, holds that the brand bought the rights from Finland's Karhu around 1952 for a modest sum and two bottles of whisky. The Trefoil logo, today reserved for Adidas Originals, arrived in 1971.
The founding moment of the Adidas myth was the 1954 World Cup final in Bern. West Germany beat a heavily favored Hungary 3 to 2, partly thanks to the boots Adi Dassler fitted with interchangeable screw-in studs, ideal for the muddy field under the rain. That triumph, known as the Miracle of Bern, bound the brand forever to the confidence of post-war Germany.
From near bankruptcy to resurrection
After Adi's death in 1978, Adidas lost ground to Nike and Reebok and came to the brink of bankruptcy in 1993. That year, businessman Robert Louis-Dreyfus took control, cut costs, moved production to Asia and nearly doubled marketing spend. The company recovered and went public in 1995. The brand's recent history has several key chapters:
- 1997: acquisition of the Salomon Group, later sold in 2005.
- 2006: purchase of Reebok for around 3.8 billion dollars to challenge Nike in North America; it was sold in 2021.
- 2013 to 2022: the alliance with Kanye West and his Yeezy line, hugely profitable, ended abruptly in October 2022 after the artist's antisemitic remarks.
- 2023: arrival of Bjørn Gulden as chief executive, coming from Puma.
The return of the Samba
Adidas's most recent turn came not from high technology but from the archive. The classic Samba, Gazelle and Spezial silhouettes revived as a fashion phenomenon, seen on celebrities of every kind, and became global hits that helped stabilize the company after the end of Yeezy. In 2024, Adidas reported revenue of around 21.4 billion euros and returned to profitability.
I think Kanye West is one of the most creative people in the world, both in music and in what I call street culture.
The line from Bjørn Gulden, said in 2023, illustrates how hard it is for a sports brand to separate creative talent from its reputational risks.
Takeaway for your business: Adidas teaches two things. First, that a brand can be built around a symbolic moment —a victory, an athlete— and live off that narrative for generations. Second, that its greatest asset is sometimes not novelty but its own archive: sometimes what you already have, reinterpreted, is worth more than what's new.
Sources
- HISTORY — https://www.history.com/articles/adidas-puma-rivalry-dassler
- CNBC — https://www.cnbc.com/2023/09/20/adidas-ceo-bjorn-gulden-says-kanye-west-didnt-mean-antisemitic-remarks.html
- Bloomberg — https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-08-12/adidas-to-sell-reebok-to-authentic-brands-for-up-to-2-5-billion
- Fortune — https://fortune.com/europe/2024/07/31/yeezys-adidas-stockpile-samba-gazelle-footwear-big-turnaround-bjorn-gulden/