Most collab shoes are forgettable within six months. Hellstar's adidas Superstar series is shaping up to be the exception. Four iterations in, the partnership between the LA-based streetwear label and adidas Originals keeps getting bolder — and the "Hazy Orange" Superstar II, which dropped on April 10, 2026, might be the most confident thing either brand has put out this year.
Who Is Hellstar?
If you haven't been following Hellstar, here's the quick brief: it's a Los Angeles streetwear brand that blew up almost entirely through celebrity co-signs and limited drops. The label's signature aesthetic mixes gothic typography with cosmic and celestial imagery — think stars, flames, and the kind of bold graphics that look just as good on a hoodie as they do on a shoe. Over the past two years, Hellstar has gone from cult status to legitimately mainstream, with its pieces showing up on NBA players, rappers, and Instagram feeds across both the US and India.
The adidas partnership started as one of those low-key announcements that the sneaker internet went loud on immediately. Each iteration has pushed the design language further, and by the fourth drop — this one — the collaboration has its own visual identity that you'd recognise from across a room.
What the "Hazy Orange" Actually Looks Like
The Superstar II is one of adidas's most heritage-loaded silhouettes — the shell toe, the Three Stripes, the cupsole — it's been in production since 1969 and it's still as clean as ever. Hellstar doesn't mess with the structure. What they do is dial the colour and graphics up to a frequency the original silhouette never expected to operate at.
The "Hazy Orange" (style code LA1501) comes in at $200 / approximately ₹16,800. The entire upper is saturated in warm orange tones with subtle yellow accents that shift slightly depending on the light — hence "hazy." Silver metallic Three Stripes and tongue branding add contrast without clashing. The lateral panel carries flame overlay graphics and Hellstar's signature graffiti-style treatment, plus a dual-branded heel tab that makes clear this is a collab and not just a custom paint job. Two extra lace options in lime green and grey are included in the box.
The Case for This Being One of 2026's Best Collabs
There's a specific type of sneaker collab that works because both brands genuinely complement each other rather than just trading on each other's equity. Hypebeast noted that Hellstar and adidas have built "one of the breakout partnerships of the past six months" — and they're right. The reason it works is that Hellstar's maximalist, flame-and-cosmos aesthetic actually plays well against the Superstar's clean, shell-toe heritage. The tension between old-school adidas and new-school Hellstar is what makes the shoe interesting rather than just loud.
Compare this to collabs where a hype brand plasters its logo on an existing silhouette and calls it a day. The Hellstar x adidas work is more considered. Each of the four iterations has had an internally coherent design narrative — and the "Hazy Orange" builds on the previous three rather than repeating them. Sneaker Bar Detroit described it as the most evolved version of the partnership yet.
Streetwear Culture in India: Why This Matters
India's streetwear scene has been moving fast. If you spend time in Bandra, Koramangala, or Hauz Khas, you already know that the visual language of American streetwear — heavy graphics, oversized fits, loud colourways — has fully arrived. Hellstar specifically has been spotted regularly in Indian streetwear accounts over the past year, driven partly by the fact that their pieces photograph extremely well and partly because the celestial-gothic aesthetic resonates with a generation raised on anime, gaming, and maximalist visual culture.
The "Hazy Orange" Superstar sits right at the intersection of heritage (adidas is massive in India, particularly the Superstar and Samba) and contemporary hype. It's the kind of shoe that works as a centrepiece of an outfit, not an afterthought — and in a market where Indian sneakerheads are increasingly styling shoes as statement pieces rather than just footwear, that positioning matters.
How to Buy in India
The "Hazy Orange" dropped April 10 via adidas CONFIRMED app and select global retailers, but stock is still trickling through secondary channels. Your options:
- adidas.co.in — check for restocks; adidas India occasionally gets allocation on CONFIRMED app drops after the initial release window.
- Myntra and Flipkart — adidas official stores on these platforms sometimes list collab shoes post-launch.
- StockX — the most reliable source for verified stock, priced at around ₹18,000–₹22,000 at the time of writing.
- Culture Circle — India's premium sneaker marketplace has been stocking Hellstar-adjacent pieces and may get stock of the Superstar directly.
Should You Buy It?
At ₹16,800 retail (or slightly more on resale), the Hellstar x adidas Superstar "Hazy Orange" is a bold buy — not because of the price, but because of how loud the shoe is. This is not a shoe for someone who wants their kicks to fade into the background. It's a centrepiece shoe, a conversation starter, a flex that says you know what's moving in global streetwear right now.
If that's you — and you know it is — the answer is yes. The execution is genuinely excellent, the storytelling behind the series is coherent, and the shell toe silhouette is timeless enough that the "Hazy Orange" treatment won't date the way some trend-chasing collabs do.
Browse our full adidas collection at SNKRS CART for more authentic adidas drops in India. And if you want to understand how the Samba and Superstar became the foundation of modern adidas culture, check out our piece on the history of the adidas Samba.
