Gazelle "OG"

The Gazelle sits at a particular crossroads in adidas history, arriving in 1966 as the brand’s first foray into suede construction. Before this model, adidas had built its reputation largely on leather and canvas athletic footwear, and the Gazelle represented a material shift that would define much of what the brand became known for in the decades that followed.

The silhouette itself is low-profile and clean, with the suede upper giving the shoe a softness and texture that set it apart from harder-wearing contemporaries. The three stripes run along the lateral side in a contrasting tone, and the serrated three-stripe branding on the tongue tab follows the design language adidas was standardizing across its catalog during this period. The outsole is cupsole construction, relatively flat and suited to the indoor track and training contexts the shoe was originally designed for.

What makes the OG colorway significant within the Gazelle’s long history is its connection to the original release, grounding later reissues and interpretations in a specific reference point. The shoe was initially aimed at athletes but its suede build, accessible price point over the years, and low-profile shape made it a natural crossover into casual and streetwear contexts, particularly in the United Kingdom and Germany, where it developed a strong following through the terrace culture of the 1970s and 1980s.

The Gazelle has been retroed and reissued in numerous colorways across multiple decades, but the OG designation consistently points back to the 1966 origin, carrying the weight of being the template from which all subsequent iterations have been drawn.