Is Adidas’ Rod Laver the Next Stan Smith?

Will the Rod Laver be the sneaker of 2015?

April 03, 2014


Take a stroll down Lafayette Street in Soho and you'll start to notice how much the classic Stan Smith shoe has come to dominate cool kid's wardrobes in the last year, a clean alternative to the wacky fashion sneaker that's been also having a moment thanks to Adidas. Ever since Adidas relaunched the Smith in 2013 and then let Raf Simons take a stab at re-imagining the all-white icon, it's basically become the shoe of the year (Style.com even did a round-up of all the stylish girls wearing them this season). But what happens when the Stan Smith is so omni-present that we all feel the impulse to switch up our sneaks just to stand out in the crowd? The Rod Laver, another OG style from the 1970s, has recently popped up for sale on Adidas' site, and is the perfect antidote—it still has the crispy white gleam of the Smith, but with enough variation, including a fuller shape and a suede toe, to make your white knights feel unique. Shop them here.

Is Adidas’ Rod Laver the Next Stan Smith?