ADIDAS AG

Adidas AG, German manufacturer of athletic shoes and apparel and sporting goods. In the early 21st century it was the largest sportswear manufacturer in Europe and the second-largest (after Nike) in the world. Adidas products are traditionally marked with a three-stripe trademark, which remains an element in the company’s newer “trefoil” and “mountain” logos. Headquarters are in Herzogenaurach, Germany.

The name Adidas (written “adidas” by the company) is an abbreviation of the name of founder Adolf (“Adi”) Dassler. The Dassler family began manufacturing shoes after World War I. At the 1936 Berlin Olympics, the American track-and-field star Jesse Owens wore shoes that were reportedly a gift from Adi Dassler. Owens’s medal-winning performances increased awareness of the Dassler brand around the world. After the disruptions of World War II, Adi and his brother Rudolf (“Rudi”) strove to rebuild the Dassler firm, but a personal breach between the brothers had become irreparable by 1948. The business therefore split in two: Rudi’s company was eventually called Puma, while Adi’s became Adidas.

Adidas grew steadily during the 1950s as association football (soccer) players switched to the company’s shoes, which were light in weight and featured screw-in cleats. The company then developed a line of sporting goods, introducing soccer footballs in 1963. Four years later Adidas began to produce apparel. For many years Adidas was the biggest name in athletic shoes, but competition increased during the 1970s, notably from newer firms such as Nike. Adi Dassler died in 1978, and the company experienced falling market shares during the 1980s, despite an innovative endorsement deal with the rap group Run-D.M.C., creators of the hit song “My Adidas” (1986). (The company was to ally with hip-hop again in a 2016 deal with the rapper and entrepreneur Kanye West.)

Between 1990 and 1993 Adidas was owned by the scandal-tainted French business executive Bernard Tapie, who failed to revive it. The company was sold to investors who brought in another Frenchman, Robert Louis-Dreyfus, as chief executive officer and chairman. Under his leadership, Adidas acquired the Salomon Group in 1997. Although best known for winter sports products, Salomon also owned the golf supplier TaylorMade. Adidas was renamed Adidas-Salomon AG and moved into retailing, following the lead of Nike, in 2001. In 2004 the company entered a successful partnership with the clothing designer Stella McCartney.

In 2005 Adidas sold Salomon but held on to the TaylorMade brand. The following year the corporate name was changed back to Adidas AG. In 2006 Adidas acquired a competitor, the Reebok company, owner of the Rockport brand of shoes.