The greatest Adidas Samba collabs of all time, ranked
How much longer will Sambas remain on top of the trend cycle? From collaborations with Wales Bonner to Pharrell, it's clear Adidas' hottest sneaker isn't going anywhere
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THERE’S AN ANXIETY surrounding the adidas Samba. And although that anxiety may lead you to thinking about pulling the plug on this It sneaker (of the last four or so years), there’s one unit of measurement you can swear by its relevance: collaborations.
Indeed, with its pristine canvas with three stripes and slim silhouette, the Samba is the ideal platform for brands and creatives to input their design languages onto (something we explored recently with Air Jordan 1s). And it’s these same collabs – famously from Wales Bonner, Pharrell, Ronnie Fieg of Kith, and Jonah Hill – that have put the soccer-inspired sneaker on the map in multiple circles across culture from skateboarding to high fashion.
Though with its origins and popularity first founded amongst working class football fans since the ’70s, and later skaters, the trend anxiety remains: have Sambas strayed from their original path?
Appropriately, skating personalities such as Kader Sylla have been given the space to design their own pair, hopefully to continue in the long history of mononymous athletic footwear. As we enter a new calendar year, we thought it best to give the world’s hottest sneaker a retrospective to take stock of the collabs that were, and how many more are to come. Scroll on for the coolest collabs produced, and where they sit in our ranked hall of fame.
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What are the best Adidas Samba collabs?
13. Dover Street Market x Adidas Samba
The global concept store, founded by Comme des Garçon’s Rei Kawakubo and her partner in life and work Adrian Joffe, had a quiet release for their iteration on the soccer sneaker. That’s not to speak on its exclusivity (its only drop was during their pop-up at the Felix Art Fair in Los Angeles), but a wider release was not expected for the collab; the switched things up with a nubuck-like material for the uppers. It’s an otherwise low-effort take on the shoe where a double-take will make you notice the DSM logo it now bares on the tongue. It could even pass for regulation footwear for the store’s staff, a minimalist choice to their signature avant-garde black, which you’ll be sure to spot in one of their eight global stores. However, they don’t command much on the resale market; one pair fetches in the mid-$200 range on StockX.
Released: May 2024
12. Sporty & Rich x Adidas Samba OG ‘Burgundy Collegiate’
As part of their third collab outing with Adidas, this is perhaps the truest expression of the American preppy nostalgia we’ve come to expect from LA-based Sporty & Rich. Featuring white leather uppers with burgundy accents on the three stripes and and back tag, its American elegance comes in the subtle cream suede of the T-shapes forefoot and laces. Again, a simpler affair for this collab, one that doesn’t command much resale value on resale markets like StockX.
Released: October 2023
11. Adidas Consortium Samba x Pleasures
2020 was still the infant years of the Samba coming back into popularity. Not yet having the wide, sweeping dominance they would eventually have as more cities came out of lockdown, collabs during this time were fortunate to have a free-for-all in their design. Case in point is this release from LA-based brand Pleasures with the adidas Consortium brand, where embroidering your name on this iconic canvas of a sneaker probably wouldn’t be green lit today. And not to bolster nostalgia for simpler times, but the collab did go for $100 at retail.
Released: March 2020
10. Kader Sylla x Adidas Samba ADV ‘Brown Gum’
This is something for people who actually skate to appreciate. Designed in collaboration American skateboarder Kader Sylla, the shoe features black leather uppers overlayed with brown suede and ‘Kader’ branded in gold foil (the ultimate flex). Though subtle, the tri-colour stitching (orange, white, green) on the heel pays homage to Sylla’s roots in the Ivory Coast.
Released: February 2024
What is the difference between a Samba OG and a Samba ADV?
As the OG would suggest, original Sambas were designed for playing soccer in; designed for quick movements on hard surfaces. The Samba ADV is the skateboarding version designed with two layers of Adituff reinforcement to make the shoe more durable to the wear and tear of skating.
9. Palace x Adidas Puig Samba
The novelty of collabs just slapping on two (or three even, in which case no thank you) brand logos has worn off. It should instead be a synergy of spirit, to make the object better. Palace’s take on the Puig Samba keeps the classic black leather uppers of the original, while casting the three stripes in silver and adding a chunkier sole for some real skateboarding usage.
Released: April 2023
8. Pharrell Humanrace x Adidas Samba
A nod to his 2015 release of the Superstar ‘Supercolour Pack’, which came in 50 different colourways (!), Pharrell gave that same love to the Samba (one month before he would debut as Louis Vuitton menswear creative director, the man doesn’t stop). Out of all the nine different unicolour variations, including black, brown, lilac, orange, pink, red, white, and yellow with rawhide laces (a premium touch), the lime green won out. It might feel similar to perhaps another Pharrell project, and that’s his Humanrace skin care brand: bottles of cleansers, toners and moisturisers come in packaging of the same shade.
Released: May 2023
7. Face x Atmos x Adidas Samba
A Samba fan from the beginning (even stealing his brother’s pair growing up), illustrator Face Oka collaborated with Japanese streetwear brand Atmos and Adidas for one of the shoe’s best three-way efforts. Spotted with embroidered daisies on the classic black upper, it’s a cheeky touch that doesn’t overpower the shoe itself.
Released: November 2022
6. Extra Butter x Adidas Samba ‘Consortium Cup’
Though branding in adidas collabs usually comes with putting the guest brand in the gold foil logo, the embroidery of the New York retailer takes this collab down a peg. Otherwise, as a nod to the 2002 film City of God, in the washed out palette that recalls the beaches of Rio de Janeiro, and stitched three stripes, the shoe falls in line for an ideal Samba collab.
Released: November 2023
5. Wales Bonner x Adidas Samba ‘Pony Leo’
The devil works hard, but Wales Bonner works harder. And you’ll see why just by how many of the British brand’s designs made the list. The faux pony hair leopard print catapulted the material into a number of models in adidas’ stable. Its charming blue lining contrasts unexpectedly with the leopard’s neutrals, which is completed with Bonner’s signature stitched on the back tab. And no surprise here, Wales Bonner Sambas command some of the biggest prices for the shoe, currently selling as high as $1,000 on StockX.
Released: November 2023
4. 8th Street Samba by Ronnie Fieg for Adidas Originals & Clarks Originals
2023 was the year Samba popularity reached fever pitch, and with it a wave of collabs released at the end of the year. But in the three-way that saw Kith’s Ronnie Fieg, Clarks, and adidas, the shoe takes on a vintage feel in the faded uppers and tri-colour stripes. But the Clarks touch comes in that (by Samba standards) über chunky – almost transparent when you hold it up to the light – outsole that gives the favourably slim sneaker a distinct silhouette above the rest.
Released: December 2023
3. Jonah Hill x Adidas Samba
One of the first major Samba collaborations, by Jonah Hill (pre problematic texts), this iteration features leather and suede uppers contrasted with neon shades. The all-black is an instant classic, but switching the typography instantly gives the shoe an update without major visual disruptions.
Released: September 2020
2. Wales Bonner x Adidas Samba in silver
The talk of the town during the spring/summer fashion shows in Paris at the time of its release (it really showed who had first pickings) this Wales Bonner Samba in patent silver hits all the marks for a shoe of the summer. And with stitched detailing of the three stripes, back tab, and flap tongue, it’s classic Bonner. If the leopard print Bonner Sambas’ resale value is half a month’s rent, consider the silver ones a down payment.
Released: June 2023
1. Wales Bonner x Adidas Samba in navy croc-embossed leather
I’m partial to the first sneaker drop I participated in. Bonner’s latest collab on the Adidas Samba is a return to form, and by that I mean a return to the animal kingdom. As someone who didn’t think much of sneaker collabs prior, these opened my eyes to the beauty of two creatives coming together. It’s the electric blue croc-embossed leather that takes the cake, giving the animal of its likeness a youthful and energetic feel, while the woven tongue gives it a handmade quality. Other sneakers from the collab included the Adidas Superstar, which, you heard it here first, is a return to the shell toe sneaker.
Released: October 2024
Is the Adidas Samba still trendy in 2025?
It’s an easy gun to sound that the Samba is past its use by date (some are eyeing the Puma Speedcat as its successor, yet it’s another slim sneaker) reaching its peak in 2023. Though if there’s a unit of measurement to test the relevance of the shoe, it’s collabs. The recent Wales Bonner collab only showed that the sneaker is still in good health, while several more collabs are already in the works for the first quarter of the new year.
How to wear the Adidas Samba
Given its slim silhouette, wide to straight legs jeans and trousers suit work best with Sambas.
For shorts length, an inseam that goes before, at, or after the knee is favourable, also in a wide cut. Any shorter and it might er on awkward gym-looking attire. Showing socks, and they can be any length, is advised. Can’t say it any more plainly than that; are no-show socks still a thing?
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According to Wales Bonner, Adidas Superstars are very much back
