The seemingly endless swell of Adidas Sambas’ popularity may have been cut short by Rishi Sunak this April, but one thing remains from its long reign as the It Trainer of London: its tongue.
I’m not talking about any old Adidas Samba, of course. Those have a perfectly average tongue, sitting under the laces like normal. I’m talking about the Wales Bonner collaboration, which featured leopard print patterns, tactile textures, metallic sheens and, occasionally, a big fat folded tongue.
Their popularity across London was undeniable, and now that signature Big Fat Tongue is starting to crop up in among other trainer brands, too.
According to a buyer at Asos, one trainer becoming increasingly popular on the site is the Adidas Taekwondo, which looks almost like the 1980s-loved Lonsdales with their white, slip-on nature, and a noticeably protruding tongue to boot.
Meanwhile, Rihanna has turned her attention away from Fenty Beauty for a second to unveil her newest Fenty x Puma collaboration, a version of Puma’s Avanti shoe which features — you guessed it — a big fat tongue.Originally built into football boots so that it could be folded over to better protect the instep from the blows of opposing studs, these tongues are now a hot accessory for those pounding the pavements of London.
“At some point in the last four to six months I noticed fashion influencers loving the big tongue on a trainer,” says Rick Woodrow, owner of the popular online vintage clothing boutique Rick’s Retro. “Adidas were the first to do it,” he agrees, noting the classic black colourway from the Wales Bonner collab as a silhouette that still stands out to him.
The protruding tongue becoming chic comes as a slight surprise to Woodrow though, who remembers them adorning a certain style of trainer in the 2010s. Think teenage Zendaya. Think galaxy print. Think “swag”. “Those Adidas high tops,” Woodrow recalls, “I thought [those ones] were rank then, I think they’re rank now.”
Back then, the protruding tongue was featured on more basketball-style trainers. Now, the shapes are increasingly similar to football boots, where the folded tongue originates from. This may be an extension of the football boot becoming fashionable, in line with the huge surge in popularity of football shirts and “blokecore” items in general.
This is the second of Rihanna’s Fenty x Puma shoe to feature a prominent tongue. While promoting the first release, RiRi told British Vogue: “There is so much history and legacy here, and I wanted to honour that by paying tribute to the Avanti. [It’s] the shoe [Brazilian football player] Pelé played in and made very famous, and I know people are looking forward to their return.”
Woodrow has noticed his fellow vintage reseller friends start to list them online, marking the crest of the wave.
So, you heard it here first: let that trainer tongue fly free, all the way into 2025.
