The adidas Forum is having a moment. Retros 80s basketball sneakers have been a mainstay in the industry for decades, with their popularity reaching an all-time high in the present day. While most brands have been putting out seemingly countless colorways of their most hyped lifestyle, performance, and leisure models, none are as accessible as the Forum right now. If 80s basketball silhouettes are your preference, delving into resurgent Forum might be just the thing for you.
To the uninitiated, the adidas Forum debuted in 1984 at a retail price of $100 USD (roughly $250 USD today) and was marketed as the heir to adidas’ previous best-selling basketball silhouette, the Top Ten. The Forum was a hit among some of the NBA’s biggest stars, resulting in a devoted following among the general public. Now, several decades since its original release, the adidas Forum has been updated upon from a technology standpoint with improved outsole traction and a stronger, rubberized midsole – all while maintaining that classic look that made it such a hit on the hardwood and the streets.
Image via SoleSavy member @juberry
The Three Stripes have since released the Forum in various Low, Mid, and High cut colorways, including a slew of exclusive collaborations. With this newly resurgent Forum momentum at full speed, more people than ever are being exposed to this archival classic from adidas. As SoleSavy member Michael K. tells us:
“I didn’t know about [Forums] until this February. I was bummed when I couldn’t get the OG blue ones when they dropped because that was pre-SoleSavy. A member eventually hooked me up for retail though, and damn, it feels good. I also love the ‘Green’ 84 Lows, I was just waiting for them to drop in Canada.”
The broader availability of the shoe, the familiar aesthetic 80s basketball, and its storied history as a performance shoe turned lifestyle icon have made the Forum a competitor to less widely available basketball retros from other brands. While basketball retros specifically haven’t been the brand’s forte, their other iconic legacy silhouettes like the Superstar, Samba, Stan Smith, and Gazelle have proven the brand’s archival pieces can continue to be hits in the present day. With the Forum’s catalog growing more seemingly every week, there’s a little something for everyone. One needs to look no further than the triple-white or two-toned colorways of the Forum Low for an easy-to-style, minimalist sneaker. The Forum ADV hits all the markers for a great skate shoe too. The potential for this becoming one of adidas’ biggest retro staples is there.
Image via END.
The Forum’s early success in 2021 is one of, if not the best retro campaigns we’ve seen from adidas in years. Not since the UltraBoost and NMD’s heyday has a non-YEEZY adidas silhouette garnered so much positive feedback from ‘heads and the general public alike. And don’t get me wrong. adidas hasn’t exactly been struggling in the years since hypebeasts moved on worshipping Boost midsoles. Like other powerhouse sportswear brands, adidas Originals bread & butter isn’t their instant sell-out, hyped releases but rather the billions of dollars made through sales of readily available apparel, footwear, and sporting equipment. Limited edition releases are most valuable in terms of the cultural clout they can provide a brand. One has to look no further than the runaway success of adidas YEEZY.
With hits like their Bad Bunny and Beyonce collabs and their much-anticipated Fear of God Athletics debut, adidas Originals itself is now gaining some serious cultural clout, and fast. That’s not to mention the leaps and bounds the brand made in regards to sustainable design and manufacturing. While competitors have finally opted for shoes made with part recycled materials, adidas has them beat with fully recyclable sneakers, repurposing ocean plastics, and even pioneering faux leather shoes crafted from mushrooms. Although adidas has always had some great archival pieces in their vault, the brand doesn’t need to lean on crafting another retro basketball hit, never leaned too hard on trying to craft a retro hit, and they’ve been doing just fine. But now they’ve got one of those too.
Image via adidas
In late 2020, images of deadstock pairs of OG blue and white adidas Forum High began to trickle their way onto our timelines via influencer marketing. Packaged in special, archival-styled boxes and seeded to key tastemakers like JJJJound founder Justin Saunders, people got glimpses of the shoe over the next few weeks with rumors of an OG Forum retro circulating sneaker blogs shortly after that. The shoe’s rollout started slow. Beginning from ground zero and dropping the original blue/white colorway of the Forum 84 High, the sell-through release was soon followed by a series of minimalist, highly palatable colorways, many of which sold out despite produced in greater numbers.
However, it wouldn’t be until March of this year that we began to see adidas had big plans in store for the shoe. In addition to the myriad Forum GRs, the brand’s second-tier of more exclusive, high-profile collaborations bring things up a notch. With adidas’ Bad Bunny collab, not since signing Kanye has the brand pulled such a big artist for a high-profile footwear collab, save for Pharrell and Queen Bey.
Image via adidas
Released on March 17th, 2021, the Bad Bunny x adidas Forum Buckle Low caused a stir. After all, in 2020, Bad Bunny was literally the biggest artist in the world. Whatever the Puerto Rican artist ended up dropping was sure to be a hit, considering his superstar status. Luckily for everyone, his Forums came out fantastic. Complete with a military-inspired army rollercoaster in lieu of a classic strap, extra padding on the ankle akin to 90s/early-2000s skate shoes, and customizable double tongues, the shoe was loud and proud. Debuted in a “The First Cafe” colorway (inspired by Bad Bunny’s morning cup of joe) and soon followed by an all-pink “Easter Bunny” iteration, the shoe is a contender for one of 2021’s best collabs.
The Bad Bunny Forums are what have put the shoe on the radar of so many casual and die-hard sneaker fans alike. The shoe’s crossover potential is clear, and the anticipation for more versatile colorways is palpable. We’ve already started to see some of the more fashion-forward crowd co-opt specific colorways and reap them for all their moodboard potential, with more sure to come. Projects like the Girls Are Awesome Forum pack, or the Boost-equipped HUMAN MADE Lows showcase the shoe’s potential as a canvas for experimentation, all of which had generously high stock upon release.
When I began this piece, I knew I had to approach the SoleSavy team’s resident adidas stan and Community Leader, Braeden Stewart, for his thoughts. “The Forum is easily one of adidas’ biggest hits, and with the current vintage wave in high tide, there has been no better time to bring it back.” He continues:
“While other brands continue to protect their flagship sneakers from sitting on shelves by purposefully limiting the stock numbers, it’s nice to see adidas come through with a sneaker that is just as versatile, classic, and much easier for the average person to cop. The Forum ’84 in particular knocks it out of the park in terms of quality compared to other sneakers that retail for nearly double the price. Just from a materials standpoint, any colorway of the Forum ’84 High is a cut above the rest.”
If the brand can continue to push the Forum, who knows what great new things the shoe could do for the brand and maybe sneaker culture at large. Like Stewart says, “Making a pair people want in good quantities does a lot more for a sneaker culture that has been the victim of inflated hype and sky-high secondary market prices.” More and more SoleSavy members find themselves flocking to stylish GRs rather than exclusively high-heat collabs than ever before.
Whether its the multiple, versatile, GR colorways or their growing roster of high-profile, limited-edition collaborations, the resurgent adidas Forum is one of the year’s key retros. Whether you’re an OG adidas head or just getting into the sneaker game, the Forum’s retro treatment is something worth paying more attention to.
You can pick up the adidas Forum today via Footlocker.
