Long Story Short: The adidas BW Army

adidas is set to bring back the BW Army—one of the most beloved (and copied) sneakers by the fashion industry.

Like all good stories, the BW Army's origin story features some mystery, but the generally accepted tale goes something like this… In the 1970s, the West German army were in-need of a sports shoe for their growing army. Adidas produced the eventual design for roughly 500,000 troops. The original shoe was white leather with a suede toe, gum sole and no branding.

After Germany’s reunification in 1989, the need for such a large army resided. As citizens found new jobs, they sold-off old uniforms, including their sports shoes. This resulted in hundreds of thousands of pairs flooding army surplus stores throughout Germany. In time, pairs began to make their way into casual wardrobes and across Europe.

Evidence suggests that in the late-90s a Belgian fashion designer and member of the Antwerp 6—Martin Margiela stumbled across a pair in Austria. He loved the design so much, his team sourced multiple pairs, cleaning and replacing insoles before painting them all-white for the Spring/Summer 1999 show. For years following, Margiela’s team would continue this practice until it became unsustainable. At that point the brand developed their own version, branding it ‘Replica Sneaker’ as it was a recreation of the originals.

That’s when things come back to the adidas BW Army. The ‘BW’ references the Bundeswehr (Germany army)—which was the model's only customer originally. Whilst many have looked to replicate this iconic design, only adidas can authentically reissue it.

This pair is the BW Army Lux—a more premium version of the shoe—more suitable for a casual wardrobe. The Lux version gets higher quality materials, including a cracked-effect leather. It also sports a leather lining which is leaps and bounds ahead of the synthetics used on original pairs. The result is an authentic tribute to the original, executed in premium materials to elevate it above the utilitarian roots.