He was also the younger brother of rudolf dassler, founder of puma. In 1920, at the age of 20, avid soccer player adolph adi dassler, son of a cobbler, invented spiked shoes for track and field. The book also ably tells the broader story of the redhot global sneaker trade. He was born in the town of herzogenaurach and trained as a cobbler after world war i. Four years later adi and his brother rudolph rudi founded the german sports shoe company gebruder dassler ohglater known as adidas. His father christoph worked in a shoe factory and mother. In todays chapter of holdthephone collisions we learn about the birth of sportswear companies adidas and puma, which began in wwii, and were founded by brothers adolf a. His father christoph worked in a shoe factory and mother ran a laundry service. Company history adidas was created in 1924 in herzogenaurach a small town just outside nurnberg in germany. A history of adidas soccer cleats by dominic habjan 24 october 2014 1 comment from the early days, it seems that adolf dassler was destined to make shoes.
Adolf struck gold when he combined his first name adi and his last name dassler to form adidas. Adidas bought the rights to the famous three stripes trademark from a finnish company in the 1950s. Adolf also known as adi dassler is best known as the founder of the adidas company, whose threestripe logo was to become synonymous with athletic shoes. Being an avid athlete himself, adi dassler understood athletes and their needs. In 2016 adidas achieved the best results in company history. What puma and adidas have to do with the nazis we love when fashion collides with seemingly nonrelated topics like history and politics. Adidas, puma battle comes alive in new book haaretz. They design and manufacture athletic apparel, athletic equipment, clothing, and footwear. Adolf adi dassler was the founder of adidas and he started to produce his. The company was first named dassler shoes and later became adidas. Adolf adi dassler november 3, 1900 in herzogenaurach germany september 6, 1978 in herzogenaurach, mainly known as adi dassler, is the founder of the german sportswear company adidas. Success story of adolf dassler, the founder of adidas.
The family feud that spawned adidas and puma howstuffworks. The young adi dassler in his shoe factory adi dassler in his early years adi dassler, founder of adidas, in his shoe factory. Puma adolf retained the dassler shoe factory and two thirds of the employees while rudolf and his followers moved south of the aurach river and started their own shoe fctory. The history behind the dark secret of the worlds top sports brands. Adidas inspiring stories 60 years of adidas, the stories that still inspire us today, adidas, a name that stands for competence in all sectors of sport around the globe, company founder adolf dassler has long become reality and his corporate philosophy the guiding principle for successor generations and many more at fibre2fashion. The history of sneakers how the show has evolved over. Athletes still continue to do this to this day, and the adidas archive is now one of the largest collections of sports goods in the world. By the dassler shoes being seen in the olympics this really helped the company get its name known. Adolf dassler was inspired by a single idea when he made his first shoes in 1920, at the age of just 20. For more of todays products with similarly german roots, check out these brands that were once nazi collaborators. Seventy years later, adidas has made an impact not only on sports and athletes, but also on fashion, music, culture, sustainability, and beyond. Dassler and his brother started the company in the early 1900s, and while the brand has become internationally recognised, many dont know about its early links to nazi germany. He originally founded adidas as the dassler brothers shoe factory along with his brother in 1924.
Barbara smit, a dutch author and journalist, has spent five years trawling the archives of the adidas and puma headquarters in the bavarian town of herzogenaurach to research rudolf and adolf dassler brothers who started making sports shoes in their mothers laundry room in the 1920s before becoming sport and business giants. The nazi origins of adidas and puma history of yesterday. By the late 1970s, the company was manufacturing 200,000 pairs of shoes per day and had expanded production to include sportswear, athletic bags, balls and other equipment. His elder brother rudolf dassler would manufacture the handmade spikes for the track shoes in their blacksmith s.
Adidas history adidas was founded in 1924 in germany by two bothers adi and rudolf dassler. In 1936 he wanted to use the summer olympics to advertise his sports company, and wanted to provide athletes from all over the world with his equipment. Rudolf rudi dassler 26 march 1898 in herzogenaurach, germany 27 october 1974 in herzogenaurach was the german founder of the sportswear company puma and the older brother of adidas founder, adolf adi dassler. Dassler was born on november 3, 1900, in herzogenaurach germany and began making shoes in his mothers basement after returning from the first world war. After first steps in his mothers wash kitchen, adi dassler registered the.
Rudolf tried to copy adi by naming his company ruda, but the name was quickly changed to puma to sound more athletic. His vision was to provide every athlete with the best footwear for his respective discipline. The companys headquarters are still located in herzogenaurach in germany with subsidiaries in 60 countries. It is the story of world war iiera germany, entrepreneurship, ingenuity, and deep, deep sibling resentment. A little more than seventy years ago, german brothers adolf dassler and rudolf dassler parted ways in a bitter sibling quarrel. Adolf dassler, the founder of adidas, with his new invention the screwin studs. Adolf dassler was the founder of the worlds second biggest sportswear manufacturing company adidas. It gained massive recognition when olympic gold medalist, jesse owens, wore a pair of dassler. The trace of adolf dasslers life begins on the third of november, 1900 when he was born the fourth child of christoph and pauline dassler. In the 1920s, adolf adi dassler, a softspoken sports fanatic who spent hours.
Adidas has developed immensely over the years and has expanded globally. Especially when the brands history is so fascinating, iconic and vivid as that of germanys largest sport brand, adidas. He brought the company to international prominence by equipping athletes with adidas gear during the olympic games, beginning in the 1920s. Dassler was an innovator in athletic shoe design and one of the early promoters who obtained endorsements from athletes to drive sale of his products.
Adidas ag is a multinational corporation based in herzogenaurach, germany. The adidas story is the main focus of the book particularly the life of horst dassler, the son of the adolf the founder of adidas. Barrett spoke with barbara smit, author of the new book sneaker wars ecco. Adidas was founded by adolf adi dassler who made sports shoes in his mothers scullery or laundry room in herzogenaurach, germany after his return from world war i.
To lead a brand into the future one needs to understand its history. Adolf dassler was born in herzogenaurach, a town of rather more than 20,000 people in eastern franconia, 23 km northwest of nuremberg. Adolf adi dassler 3 november 1900 6 december 1978 was a german cobbler, inventor and entrepreneur who founded the german sportswear company adidas. The archive came to be after founder adolf dassler and his brother rudolf used to ask athletes to return their footwear when they were no longer needed to further their development. Milestones in adi and kathe dasslers life and adidas.
The story of adolf dasslers adidas is a complicated one. At the 1936 berlin olympics, the american trackandfield star jesse owens wore shoes that were reportedly a. It all started in 1949 when a man named adolf adi dassler founded the company of adidas. While he was in his teenage years, he learnt how to make sport shoes immediately he returned from the first world war. The adidas brand was formed in herzogenaurach, germany on august 18, 1949 by adolf adi dassler. History of adidas logo in a nutshell the designest. Smits essential point is that the feud between the puma and adidas branches of. In the 1920s, at the young age of 20, soccer player adolf dassler, the son of a cobbler, created a new type of shoe for the track field. Adidas, adidas shoes history, footwear company history. Early life adolf s father was a worker in a shoe factory from the city nuremberg, while his mother worked in a laundry mat.
The worldknown brand used to produce sports shoes only and was called dassler shoes after its founder german cobbler adolf dassler. Having said that, here are 18 facts that you should know about its founder and the company itself. And as it goes in fairytales for kids, there was a young brother rudolf, who eventually became adolf s rival. Adolf adi dassler founded the iconic sports company adidas in 1924. The name adidas written adidas by the company is an abbreviation of the name of founder adolf adi dassler. The history of this brand happened to be very complicated with its ups and downs. Adi and rudi dassler started their shoe business in their mothers laundry room.
He trained as a shoemaker and when he returned to herzogenaurach after military service in the first world war began to make sports shoes, for some of which spikes were provided by a local blacksmith. Trained as a baker, adi dassler started to produce his own. The dassler family began manufacturing shoes after world war i. He wanted to provide athletes the best equipment as possible. Several renowned athletes and soccer players favored puma and helped the company gain international acceptance. Rudolf dassler biography facts, childhood, family life.
Their bitter family split in 1948 led adolf to create adidas and rudolf to launch puma. Adidas project gutenberg selfpublishing ebooks read. Adolf dassler started a new company named adidas, while rudolf dassler started the company ruda. The older siblings were named fritz born 1892, marie b. This one started in a small town in bavaria, germany. The older siblings were named fritz born 1892, marie. Jesse owens secretly wore german shoes at the 1936 summer. Founding of adolf dassler adidas sport shoe company with 47 employees. The story as told by those who lived and are living it bears i. The negotiations while separating the company would be the last time the dassler brothers would ever speak to one another. Adolf adi dassler the founder of adidas created the modern running shoe in 1925.
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