Adidas Special

The Adidas Spezial was originally designed as a handball shoe in adidas' home country of Germany. It was specifically developed for handball, which is very demanding on footwear as it must be robust enough to handle short, sharp movements and the heavy friction created by the players. It was first used in 1979, and players from Germany, the Netherlands and especially Scandinavia quickly made them their favorites.

In the mid-80s, the Spezial really came into its own as a permanent part of the fashion world, where their comfort and sporty aesthetic looked good with jeans and other popular outfits in the 80s wardrobe.