By Kailey Sigoda
Classified as the most recent American popularity attracted from Europe, the Adidas Sambas have quickly fashioned into the current trending shoe.
Originally, the infamous it-girl shoe was designed for menswear and commonly worn as an indoor
soccer shoe for many sports players. The shoe has now evolved since its first appearance from Adidas in 1949 and has become an everyday shoe after its reimagined breakthrough in U.S. trend culture. The style of the Sambas mimics a traditionally deemed classy European style that reflects similar trends we’ve stolen from European culture and passed off in our society.
American trend culture works in cycles, swapping in one popularity just as another dies out. The addition of social media, especially TikTok, has fueled this obsession with trends, taking it to a new level of extremism. Revolving styles, like coastal granddaughter and balaclava head scarves, show how European impact gets thrown into American trend cycles.
Oftentimes, these trends get blown out of proportion, which disregards the interest in the trend itself, but exemplifies the value of popularity. Additionally, Americans feed on the feeling of inclusivity. The high interest in these items give society another trend to participate in and facilitate the appearance of being “included” in the current popularities. Trend culture grows not only based on the look of items, but also the stream of popularity and suitability of the item to the trend follower. This raises the question of whether or not the Sambas trend is trend culture or true influence from European styles in America.
European influence in America is shown through trends of more simple, classy, and minimalistic styles. This tends to buffer the line between genuine European trends entering the American bloodstream or just European mimicked styles becoming popular and passed off as ‘European’. Oftentimes American society looks up to the fashion styles of Europe, especially since it is home to many of the fashion capitals of the world. Additionally, Americans tend to strive to the class level of Europeans, part of which they express through their choices of clothing. These classy styles enter the trend stream and show how regardless of whether it is truly a European style, America is easily influenced when it comes to materialistic popularities.
Within the Fordham community, there is a guaranteed Samba sighting everytime you leave your dorm. Our campus is swarming with Adidas Sambas. Literally. Funnily enough, when I traveled to Europe this past summer amidst the Samba trend, there were half the amount of people wearing Sambas as I see on the Fordham campus, let alone in New York City. Therefore, are these shoes really a European influence or are they an American trend that our society believes “feels” European? I honestly believe it’s a combination of both. It seems as if the Samba was European originated, but like many other things, Americans have obsessively exaggerated the trend. This also goes to raise the big question that is valid for many other American trends…do we actually like Adidas Sambas or do we like that they’re trendy? Trend culture has a hold on our community, especially the younger generation. It has caused the cycle of only truly liking the look of clothing when it’s popular and hating it when the trend ends. The current Samba wearers seem to find genuine appeal to the shoe, but I’m sure that the only way to find that truth is to see how many Sambas are seen daily after the trend has died out.
Fashion for Philanthropy 