Adidas Hamburg

About

The Adidas Hamburg was released in 1982 as part of the City Series, the run of Adidas trainers named after European cities that also included London, Bern, Berlin, Amsterdam and Dublin. It takes its name from the North German port city, and the first pairs were made in Yugoslavia with a rich suede upper and a gum sole unit, plus the T toe overlay that marks the series. In Britain it became a casual culture classic. Young football fans following clubs like Liverpool and Aberdeen across Europe came home with rare Adidas trainers, and owning a pair of Hamburgs in the early 1980s was described as a rite of passage in that scene. The shoe has returned several times from the archive. In March 2020 Adidas relaunched it as part of City Series MMXX in a blue suede Marine, White and Off White colourway made to resemble the 1982 original as closely as possible, and Adidas later added a Hamburg 24 edition. Adidas lists the current Hamburg with a regular fit and a leather upper that laces up, and calls it an Originals favourite for over 40 years.