In an era before athletic-performance gear with distinctive logos existed as a market commodity, Adidas footwear were the designer sneakers of their day. For several decades, Adidas shoes were worn by professional and Olympic athletes, and the company's distinctive three-stripe logo quietly sunk into the public consciousness through years of television cameras trained on Adidas-wearing athletes. The company and its clothing—especially the trefoil logo T-shirt—became indelibly linked with 1970s fashion, and during the early years of rap music's ascendancy, Adidas became the first fashion brand name to find itself connected with hip-hop cool.

Like a Mercedes-Benz, Adidas shoes were considered both well designed and well made—and much of this was due to the product's German origins. The company began in the early 1920s as slipper makers Gebruder Dassler Schuhfabrik, in Herzogenaurach, Germany, near Nuremberg. One day in 1925 Adolf (Adi) Dassler designed a pair of sports...