adidas Paris

ART NUMBER: 

MADE ON: 

MADE IN: ROMANIA

FACTORY: PIONIERUL SA

For any devoted collector of adidas one of the must haves and holy grails are a pair of vintage Paris. First introduced in 1976 as part of the vast City series, the original leisure shoe made in Romania heralded the use of bold colours. Reminiscent of the French flag, with Royal Blue leather uppers (later versions had a navy suede toe box), Red stripes/heel cap and White outer-sole detail.

Various versions of the Paris have come and gone throughout the years and very few remain today. A notable darker version with black stripes in the same silhouette was also around for a short period of time. At the end of the decade the shoe had underwent a drastic facelift in the guise of a “Trimm Trab” style; they were made in Yugoslavia with all white uppers, black stripes and a thick polyurethane sole.

In 2009 Consortium collaborated with adidas and adopted the “Collette” Paris name for their “Your City” limited series; similar to the London/Dublin silhouette in all white and speckled effect stripes and underneath the sole. However it wasn’t until 2012 when Size? opened their new store in the French capital and resurrected the much missed iconic 1970’s design. Limited to an exclusive run of only 20 pairs worldwide, they came complete with a replica 1970’s vintage box and dust bag.

There is no doubt that unlike the other city series which all looked very similar in design, there is something definitely unique about these highly sought classics. But for those who are lucky to own them, that’s another story altogether.

Photography: errol

Text: Scott Ptolomey