Adidas Digs Into Back Catalog for Samba Hit After Yeezy Mess
- CEO Gulden ramps up output of classic Sambas to meet demand
- Move is part of new chief’s drive to speed decision making
Adidas Samba black leather sneakers.
Photographer: Jeremy Moeller/Getty Images
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When Bjorn Gulden arrived at Adidas AG following the implosion of its Yeezy collaboration, the new chief executive officer found one pleasant surprise: The classic Samba sneakers that celebrities had started wearing last summer appeared ready to take off.
At the time, the plan was to slowly build up production of the shoes, which were suddenly in hot demand from the US to UK to China. But seeing that factories in Asia were looking for more orders as product inventories around the world slow the shoe industry, Gulden’s new team rewrote their Samba ambitions.