Adidas Originals Off White Stan Smith Sneakers Review
Adidas Stan Smith Vegan Leather in Deject White / Light-green – $85
Large IMPORTANT Notation: At post time the vegan options are sold out. Merely while the Vegan Samba and Superstar are in stock… it appears that maybe adidas has pivoted to a new "Primegreen" version for their Stan Smiths? From adidas:
This pair shows off a fresh redesign as office of adidas' commitment to employ just recycled polyester by 2024. Plus, they take an outsole fabricated from rubber waste add to the archetype manner.
No Vegan label anymore (must be some animal products in there somewhere?). But that'due south large news all the same. Is adidas really phasing out leather? Nosotros'll keep an centre on it. For at present though, on with the original review of the Vegans we ordered… earlier they were sold out and which might be already out of engagement. Again, this is non, REPEAT NOT a review of the new Primegreen. But instead the Vegan option, which adidas might no longer be making.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Most the Author: Ryan N. is a professional web developer for (and alum from) the University of Delaware, who keeps a close shave as to not be dislocated with his strongly-bearded twin blood brother. He plays guitar and drums, loves going to concerts watching livestream concerts with his wife, and loves being a dad.
Made with completely animal-free materials (no leathers, no glues/colors with animal derivations), Adidas is breaking out another vegan sneaker remake. Later they knocked it out of the park with their vegan-leather Samba sneaker, I was proper chuffed to have a chance to try out their new vegan take on the Stan Smith, perhaps their about iconic sneaker. And having only recently purchased a pair of leather Stans from the recent $36 Nordy sale, you, beloved reader, get to reap the benefits of some sweet one-to-one comparison shots. Woo!
I'll telephone call out each shoe individually in photos, simply just for clarity: the blue heel is the leather Stan, and the green heel is the vegan Stan. Got that? Allow's gyre.
Can you tell which is which? Vegan on the left, leather on the right.
If the Samba looked and felt only like the real thing, these step that up even some other notch. There'south no distracting suede T-toe to snap you back to knowing it's non an exact match. From the moment yous open up the packaging, they await perfect. And to exist honest, from a sheer looks perspective, I recollect these actually look better than the "real" thing. The slight pebbled grain to the vegan Stans is just more visually interesting than the plain, smooth leather on the regular Stan. Cypher wrong with the smoothness of the classic, but hey, I have to call 'em as I run into 'em. Very nicely washed.
Amazingly, no, these are not a matching pair! Vegan on the left again here, leather on the right.
The "leather" itself is fantastic. It looks to be the same as was used in the Samba – and given how different those two shoe styles are, information technology's surprising that information technology works equally well for both. Tip of the cap to Adidas'due south development team for coming upwardly with such a versatile material. There's a smoothen overall look, but close up, the pebbling gives a nice flash of texture. From reviews, it'due south also super like shooting fish in a barrel to clean, which is always a large plus when you're talking white shoes.
Same stuff as the Samba, so once over again, simply every bit difficult to truly photo. Great texture and advent.
With the Samba, I tried a size nine.5, which for a narrower profile, the fit was just fine, if not a touch large. In the Stans, though? When I ordered my leather pair, I went through a number of returns with Nordy to end upwards with an viii.v. Perhaps the Stan just has a completely dissimilar fit than the Samba, just that same viii.5 held up from "classic" to "vegan" Stan. I am a size 8.5 for both the leather and vegan Stan. My advice? Order your normal shoe size AND a size smaller, and return whichever doesn't work (join their Creators' Club for free render shipping). The insole is comfortable and provides ample back up.
Textile (vegan) vs. leather (classic) heel pull details. A few pocket-sized differences similar this separate the ii.
While the quick ocular pat-down would tell you lot the 2 are identical, at that place are some details that set the two apart. Some are expert, some neutral, and some aren't quite as good. For example, the tongue is unpadded and the tongue loop is a parallel slit on the vegan shoe, while my leather pair have a padded tongue and a fully split up natural language loop. However, mine may exist in the minority, as you can run across this pair of Adidas Originals on Amazon shares both the unpadded natural language and slit-style natural language loop with its vegan brother. Those unpadded tongues usually indicate an "upgraded" level of leather. So, interesting that they're applying those choices to a shoe that'southward totally leather free.
Y'all'll also see cloth details effectually the heel pull, which are again, fully leather on the archetype. This change appears intentional, because the Samba had a fully "smoothen leather" heel pull. Lastly, the "Stan Smith" logo on the heel is printed on the vegan, but stamped on the archetype. And speaking of stamped, the "Adidas Originals Vegan" postage stamp is barely there, and merely a nominal indication that you're not wearing real leather.
The "Adidas Vegan Originals" stamp is once more subtle and minimal. Doesn't get in the mode at all.
What's the same, though? The soles, the eyelets, the weight, the insole, the silhouette… everything that matters. I mean, could the few differences be deal-breakers for you? Eh, not likely. Overall, they may just be minor cost-cut effects while they proceed to make their way into the vegan market (and no, non that vegan marketplace your Aunt Flowerchild visits on Saturday mornings).
It's long been accepted that "vegan" leathers are visually and physically inferior to their cowhide siblings, only it's clear that vegan leather is catching up, big time. Adidas nailed it with this true one-to-1 recreation of an icon.
Source: https://dappered.com/2021/03/in-review-the-adidas-stan-smith-vegan-leather-sneaker/