Once considered the thinking man’s Gazelle, the Adidas Samba has now unfortunately become the shoe of the herd. You can’t go ten feet in London without seeing a pair of the tell-tale, trio-striped gum soles. It’s an epidemic.
Yes, they’re a classic silhouette — plus it’s hard to get sick of them when designers like Grace Wales Bonner keep wheeling out gorgeous new iterations, from silver and slip-tongued to all-over leopard print. But the Samba has reached peak popularity at this point, leaving many latecomers questioning whether it’s actually worth investing in a pair at all, or whether they’re simply too far out of the game.
