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With the adidas Campus 80s, we present you a shoe that makes many sneakerheads go into raptures. In addition to two collabo versions with the streetwear brand XLARGE, we have recently added two original colorways of the Campus 80, which is what this article is about.
What even many collectors don’t know is that the shoe was introduced back in 1972 under the name adidas Tournament and sold as a basketball shoe until around 1974. After a long break in sales, someone at adidas remembered the Tournament, which was quite plain and classic, but the times of low basketball performance shoes were coming to an end, so a commercial success of the shoe was probably rather doubtful. But with the Puma Suede, a quite similarly built shoe had had quite strong appearances in the 70s with break dancers and graffiti artists, so that one decided in the early 1980s to a new edition of the Tournament, but renamed to adidas Campus. Initially produced until 1987, the adidas Campus was only available as a low suede version in the color combinations white on light blue, white on burgundy red, white on gray, white on navy blue, silver on black and white on green.
And after its release, what Campus had hoped would happen actually happened. In America’s growing hip-hop community, the shoe became a frequently seen and well-worn style accessory. Ultimately, it were the Beastie Boys who memorialized the shoe by repeatedly showcasing it to their fan base at concerts and even on the cover of their “Check Your Head” album. Since the 1990s, the Campus has actually been a permanent fixture in the adidas range. Hardly a year has gone by since then without a new version of the classic had a release. Last year, the “Towelie” Campus 80 in collaboration with “South Park” was a highly acclaimed release that had many collectors asking themselves afterwards why they didn’t strike. The “House of Pain” x adidas Campus, which was released in limited quantities in 2009, is still an extremely coveted adidas collaboration that has become a piece of pop culture. Original vintage Campus colorways from the 80s regularly fetch prices beyond the €1000 mark, if you can find them at all.
Now there is finally the opportunity to get hold of at least two of these OG colorways. In our stores in Cologne and Berlin, as well as in our Overkill Onlineshop you can choose between the Collegiate Navy/ Footwear White/ Off White and the Collegiate Burgundy/ Footwear White/ Off White colorway of the adidas Campus 80s. The three white adidas stripes sit on a beautiful suede upper. The heel tab is also white, featuring an embossed Trefoil. The tongue, which is also suede, is completely unbranded. A nice detail is the insole in the original vintage look. Priced at € 99, it’s also well below the aforementioned price for the OGs. The Campus is definitely a shoe that no well-stocked sneaker collection should be without.
Text by Ernie Beckmann
