The adidas Handball Spezial was born with sporting success, but it also gained new experiences in the stands before making its way to the streets.
adidas Handball Spezial: origin
Handball is one of the most popular sports in Germany and one of the first sports that adidas focused on. In 1938, Germany hosted the first world championship, which was won by the home team. At the time, handball was sometimes an outdoor sport, with shoes similar to those used in football.
Germany had to wait four decades to repeat its success. It was 1978, indoors, and the majority of the players wore distinctive blue shoes designed by adidas specifically for handball. Their name, adidas Handball Spezial. That first handball shoe, which was blue like other adidas indoor sports models, was almost exclusively available to players from various national teams and featured innovative holes in the sole to facilitate perspiration. The version that hit the streets a year later was slightly different, with multiple pivot points to improve lateral movement and an outsole designed for stability and protection.
adidas Handball Spezial and Terrace
The popularity in Germany in the years following the handball world championship provided a platform for an unexpected audience. Terrace culture originated as a result of British fans travelling across Europe to support their football teams in international competitions. They discovered brands and clothing in Italy, Spain, and France that they did not normally see in the UK. Of course, Adidas Handball was popular in Germany, a silhouette not seen in London or Manchester.
First it was the lucky travellers, then the British sports stores, who went to any length to obtain models that were unknown in the islands. The Adidas Handball Spezial joined the Samba and Gazelle as essential models of the Terrace subcultures.
Rebirth of adidas Handball Spezial in 2024
The adidas Originals Handball Spezial returns in 2024 with the Terrace aesthetic, which features simple and minimalist models with rubber soles that depart from their sport-specific origins and offer a new style. Sneakers that are easy to combine and are not intended to be the focal point of your outfit or draw attention to themselves.
The adidas Originals Handball Spezial, made of nubuck in a variety of colours, features details similar to the original model, such as perspiration holes and a caramel-colored sole.
New colors and new editions of the adidas Originals Handball Spezial, are available at FOOTDISTRICT.