History
The first Adicolor apparel line was launched in 1983. The brand also launched all-white sneakers that were sold along with marker pens to let customers make art interventions to their shoes.[3]
The Adicolor sneaker was an all-white training shoe was specifically created for the adicolor concept. Presented in a wooden box, the adicolor low-top shoe comes with an all-white track jacket, a set of six colored acrylic paints, paintbrushes, and a wooden palette. The white leather can also be coated with sealant before or after painting.
In 2005 Adidas re-launched Adicolor as a replica of the original. Trainers include characters on them such as "Trimmy" "Betty Boop" "Mr Happy" "Tron" "Miss Piggy", "Kermit the Frog" and Muhammad Ali.[4]
There are similarities between the 1983 version and the 2005 version such as the "ghilly" lacing system and a rubber outsole. Each pair comes with two types of laces, one containing Leonardo da Vinci's quote, "For all those colours which you wish to be beautiful, always start with a fresh white ground".
One of the Adicolor range was criticised by the Organization of Chinese Americans for presenting a stereotyped image of Asians.[5]
