Originally, the Stan Smith rose to notoriety as a high-tech -for the times- sports shoe that could take a beating. It started out as the Robert Haillet, a French player, Adidas sailed into the US market by switching to the more prominent player. Now purely a lifestyle shoe, the Stan Smith is still a brilliant sneaker. It goes with quite literally anything thanks to its real leather, white upper. The sneaker traditionally comes with a green heel and tongue detailing, and low key stripes made from ventilation holes in the side. Whatever is said about the Adidas Stan Smith, we all owe this sneaker, the former world No 1 tennis player, and Horst Dassler a debt of gratitude. It remains one of the highest-selling sneakers of all time, regardless of the leaps and bounds the rest of the market makes. It’s fair(-ish) to say that the “tennis shoe” started the all-white, boring/basic sneaker trend. It was also one of the first athlete/brand collaborations that worked to sell a sport-specific to the masses. A blend of the incredible performance of the tennis player himself and Adi Dassler’s marketing-minded son has left this shoe secured in culture well into the 21st century.