The adidas Samba created in collaboration with Pharrell Williams is one of the most extraordinary surprises of late 2022. No one expected the musician, known for his colorful designs for the German brand, to present such a sober, retro, and prestigious model of the most fashionable sneaker: the adidas Samba.

These shoes were admired for the first time at the Mighty Dream Forum on the feet of Pharrell, also known as Skateboard P due to his passion for skateboarding during high school, and are now showcased through product images by Australian retailer Up There.

There is a real fever for white adidas Samba. Without a doubt, they are the most desired trainers. At the moment, if you want them, you can only find them in thrift stores or on secondary markets like StockX, where they are worth around 200 euros (their original price is 100 euros).

For this collaboration, Pharrell prepared two color variations of the classic football silhouette transformed into a lifestyle model. The most noticeable difference is that he elongated the ends to give more volume to the shoes. One version is lighter: the leather upper has a “cloud white” hue, while the iconic stripes, heel accents, and Samba branding are black.
The suede overlays are sprinkled with a lighter shade of gray, while the insoles contrast with the rubber soles.

The other option has a darker look, with stealth tongues, leather stripes, and sides. Gray overlays have also been introduced on the toe and rubber outsole to complement the white model.

In the landscape of men’s fashion, characterized by micro-trends and TikTok memes, the Samba boom is real and surprisingly universal.

It is not just a local trend. Samba is considered one of adidas’s best-selling models, and according to Drew Haines, the sneaker and collectibles merchandising director at the resale website StockX, the demand has increased in June and July: “In the last two months, we have seen almost the same number of Samba sales as the five previous months (from January to May 2022) combined,” explains Haines. No comments on these figures have been received from adidas.

The three-striped brand has sold out of many sizes of its standard Samba models. StockX has highlighted the surge in demand and a truly surprising increase in sales in recent weeks. In mid-August, StockX sold a pair of basic white Samba OGs that originally cost around 100 euros for approximately 514 euros. Roughly the same as an unusual collaboration with Air Jordan rather than a mass-produced model available in any store. Furthermore, collaborations with Samba have increased on StockX, with a special LAFC edition that has seen an average markup of 200% since January.

Price and release date of the adidas Samba by Pharrell Williams

The adidas Samba by Pharrell Williams does not have a release date yet, but they are expected to be distributed in the coming weeks.