One of the well known and the best branded sportswear in the market are Adidas apparel and shoes. Adidas have long established itself as a well designed and well made footwear, ever since Adolf (Adi) Dassler created the first pair in the early 1920s.
Adidas started with footwear, it is only it recent history that the company branched out with other sports apparel like shirts, socks, shorts and various accessories, just to name a few. When Adolf Dassler designed his first pair of shoes, it instantly became a hit.
It was not long, therefore, that Adolf and his brother Rudi were selling them like hotcakes. The brothers introduced a lot of innovations in the athletic footwear industry. They were the first ones to have introduced the arch support in athletic shoes. They also were the first ones who gave athletes free shoes in return for advertising their products.
When the company entered the U.S. market in 1968, they came in very strong. They were so strong, in fact that American shoe competitors, Wilson and MacGregor had to stop manufacturing their footwear because of Adidas' popularity. The popularity of Adidas became undisputed when during the 1972 Munich Olympic Games, every game official and almost all of the 1,490 international athletes wore Adidas.
With the strong footing Adidas had in the footwear market, it was quite surprising to the see the company in shambles during the 1980s. The lack of a solid leadership and workable policies by the company's upper management caused Adidas' demise in the 80s. The company totally underestimated the growth of the newly formed Nike. They were too complacent. And soon, enough, due to more innovative designs and modern styles that appeal to the new generation, Nike took from Adidas the number one title. Adidas fell from the top and the fall was hard.
What saved the company was the revival of 70s fashions in the early 1990s. Adidas' old designs became retro and antique overnight appealing to the teens and younger generations who were the ones mostly affected by the rebirth of the psychedelic fashion. Celebrities that were caught on video and camera wearing old Adidas shoes increased the demands for the shoe manufacturer's 20-year old designs.
At present, Adidas has slowly crawled its way back up into the ranking of the top footwear manufacturers in the world. Though, it still have not yet reached the pinnacle of success that it once had, the company has regained a comfortable footing in the sportswear market.
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