adidas is poised to have a stellar 2024. Its CEO Bjørn Gulden issued a warning to competitors – in particular Nike – recently, claiming that the Three Stripes had a lot in the pipeline. Although most of its plans for the new year are under wraps, adidas is expected to reissue the Adistar Raven 3, a trail-ready sneaker from the 2010s.
adidas Running has made record-setting strides over the last two years. The Adizero family of products continues to deliver the pinnacle of the Three Stripes’ performance-running engineering, but the brand has also repackaged some of its old designs for lifestyle use. The Adistar Cushion, for example, brings an aesthetic from 2005 to modern audiences. Similarly, the Adistar Raven 3 is expected to offer consumers a more rugged, retro style to consumers in 2024 – especially those whom champion Salomon Sportstyle.
In the last four years, the French institution has exploded in popularity thanks to its XT-6 silhouette. Although the model was developed and launched for trail-running, Salomon’s designs have found a home in footwear rotations of countless city-dwellers. Styles like the ACS PRO were developed intentionally for this audience, one that adidas has only flirted with via the Hyperturf Adventure and similar offerings. The Adistar Raven line delivers a much more streamlined look, and promises some of the brand’s reliable performance technologies. adidas (likely) won’t flat out share that its reissue of the long-overshadowed trail sneaker is a direct response to Salomon’s success – a company it owned between 1997 and 2005 – but the similarities in design are too close for the sake of coincidence.
According to known sneaker leakers, the adidas Adistar Raven will return in a “Metallic Silver/Core Black/Cloud White” color scheme sometime in 2024. The model will likely not feature any modifications to its build, keeping things intact for savvy and new audiences alike. Dethroning Salomon in this segment of the market won’t be an easy task, but Gulden and the rest of the German sportswear behemoth seems up for the challenge. Whenever the shoe returns to adidas.com, the public will inform them of how they’ve done.
For more from the Three Stripes, check out the latest adidas Originals offerings.