Adidas Spezial

(image via mainlinemenswear.co.uk)

Adidas Spezial (German for special) is something very new to me and something I couldn't be more excited to dive into. For anybody reading this that is active in sneakerhead social media, yes, I heard Matt Welty say Spezial a million times and finally decided that I needed to know what it was exactly. For those of you reading who are 100% new to the name and topic, I'm excited for you to dive into this with me.

The Roots of Spezial

The best place to start when talking about Spezial is the location: the United Kingdom. In the late 1970s and into the 1980s, a casual style had taken shape in the UK. This culture is often referred to as "casual" culture, and its origin comes from what people would wear to football matches. Due to the infrastructure of football stadiums of this time, another name to refer to this was "terrace" culture, as football stadiums had more standing terraces for its fans than it did actual seats. Referred to as football hooligans, most of the game attendees were lower class people that found ways to obtain upper class clothing. This clothing - and shoes to go with it - was not often purchased by people of the lower classes, but stolen directly out of the stores that sold the product. What completed the look of a football hooligan? A pair of Adidas trainers. 

A group of football hooligans (image via getthelabel.com)

Alongside football hooliganism of the 1980s, acid house music surged onto the scene in the UK, leading to huge, frequent acid house parties that were hosted inside abandoned warehouses. Dancing for entire nights at a time, the participants were in search of a flashy, comfortable training shoe to fill their raver needs. Luckily for Adidas, the popular shoes to fill these needs became Adidas ZX models. The first ZX series was beloved for its comfort, and its bright, pastel colors. Following, the second ZX series featured new arch technology called "Torsion" (still present in Adidas models of today), which allowed the the forefoot and rearfoot to move independently of each other. Adidas' implementation of Torsion in its models couldn't have come at a more perfect time, as this comfort catered perfectly to the acid house crowd.

Adidas ZX 8000 "Aqua"; First to feature Torsion, loved by ravers 

(image via liveabout.com)

The football hooligan and acid house history in the UK are two key components of Spezial's mission and vision of today.

Present Day

With the guidance of Gary Aspden - Adidas brand expert and extreme Adidas collector - Adidas was able to bring their Spezial line to fruition in 2013. Spezial focuses on bringing back beloved models from the substantial Adidas archive, along with creating new products inspired by those same archival ideas. According to Aspden, the focus of Spezial is, "...to create a range that had a very traditional adidas identity." 

Gary Aspden (image via dazeddigital.com)

Despite the introduction of the line in 2013, Spezial was sparsely available for purchase in the U.S. for numerous years. Thankfully for those of you reading this that are now gung-ho to buy some Spezial, U.S. Spezial accessibility changed and became much more widespread in 2017. 

(image via solecollector.com)

Scoop a pair for yourself on Adidas.com today, and stay tuned for upcoming Spezial releases.

Help from: Complex Sneakers, Complex Origins, Sole Collector