Rishi Sunak, uproar over his Adidas: “He killed the brand”
Has the British Prime Minister made the Adidas Samba obsolete? On April 2, Rishi Sunak appeared during an interview in Downing Street to promote his tax policy, wearing Adidas Samba. And this was enough to send the United Kingdom into turmoil. Forgotten the high-cost crisis, soaring rents and economic recession: for a moment, the nation seemed more united than ever in collectively expressing outrage at the Prime Minister's choice of shoe. “The Adidas Samba was the coolest shoe of the year, until Rishi Sunak had a pair,” says The Observer. “How Rishi killed the biggest sports shoe trend in one fell swoop,” says The Telegraph. Claiming that Rishi Sunak tries to present himself as young and hip, British magazine GQ writes: “Sunak took an eternally beautiful sneaker and ruined it for everyone.”
For a year the Samba model, whose origins date back to a 1949 creation by Adi Dassler – real name Adolf Dassler, the German entrepreneur who founded Adidas – is everywhere: on the street, at the feet of influencers such as bankers and stars. Harry Styles, Kendall Jenner, Bella Hadid and Rihanna are among those who have succumbed to the trend. Sales exploded in 2022, according to shopping platform Lyst, as searches for sneakers increased 350% that year after going viral on social media, notes the New York Times.
Rishi Sunak
But could Adidas Samba's association with the UK's Conservative Prime Minister seal their death warrant? Maybe not… On the other hand, what is certain is that the coolest sneaker of the year immediately lost its “coolness”. The outcry was such that Rishi Sunak almost apologized to “the Samba community. “In my defense, I would say that I have worn Adidas sneakers, including the Samba – and others, in fact – for many, many years,” noted the 43-year-old politician, who also said he has a thing for the Everlane, sweatshirt with hood and platform shoes Palm Angels, on the waves of London radio LBC.
Rishi Sunak, however, is not the first politician to try to appear as a more accessible leader by opting for a more casual style. Suffice it to recall the appearances of Emmanuel Macron in a hoodie, that, more recently, of Gabriel Attal in jeans and white sneakers, or even Joe Biden and his pair of Hoka wedge sneakers. “[Rishi Sunak] he can perhaps take comfort in the fact that as Prime Minister he has finally managed to bring together a divided nation, if not at the polls then online, for having “ruined” the Englishman's favorite sports shoe. A win, as they say, is a win.”, jokes New York Times journalist Elizabeth Paton. Yet more proof that fashion is political.
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