The adidas Superstar became a hip-hop icon after Run-D.M.C. wore it without shoelaces.
The Superstar began as a low-top basketball shoe in 1969, following adidas’s earlier leather basketball designs. Its distinctive rubber shell toe and three-stripe branding made it visually recognizable both on court and off it.
Run-D.M.C. helped move the shoe into global popular culture. The group’s 1986 song “My Adidas” celebrated the brand, while their lace-free styling became a defining part of their stage image. The relationship was an early landmark in artist-and-brand sneaker marketing.
The Superstar is sometimes confused with the adidas Campus because both became important in hip-hop and streetwear. The shell toe is the clearest identifying feature: it belongs to the Superstar, not the Campus.