Perhaps more so than any other sportswear company, adidas keep their vast archive very close to their hearts: they have a huge division, Originals, dedicated solely to their retro styles, and even a subdivision within this known as SPEZIAL for reissues of the really obscure finds. Headed by adidas fanatic Gary Aspden, the SPEZIAL team scours the world looking for exclusive, short-lived trainer classics that would otherwise have been lost to time, and reinvent them with modern materials to give them the recognition they deserve.

Sometimes a SPEZIAL release proves so popular that it filters through into the main Originals lineup, bringing more colourways to a wider audience. The adidas Originals New York is one of these special cases, and it’s not difficult to see why: that combination of mesh and plush suede on a distinctive trail-running sole always looks fantastic, and has become a staple of our adidas Originals trainer range here at Aphrodite.

So what makes it so special? The New York shares the majority of its DNA with the adidas Marathon TR, a forward-thinking design that combined the best technologies that the Three Stripes had to offer at the time of its original release in the early 1980s. From the use of Dellinger web on the midsole to the TPU lace ghillies, the Marathon TR was futuristic, durable, and most importantly comfortable for long-distance running. The New York was a special version of the Marathon TR produced as part of the legendary ‘City Series’, celebrating the world-famous New York marathon. Slightly modified with a longer tongue, extra lace ghillie and a deeper forefoot notch on the toebox, the real draw was the switch from the Marathon TR’s velour overlays to a rich, luxurious suede, lending itself perfectly to lifestyle use.

The story behind the rediscovery of the New York is also good one: back in 2013, Gary Aspden and his SPEZIAL team — including Stone Roses frontman and fellow adi enthusiast Ian Brown — made a pilgrimage to Buenos Aires, Argentina, where there were rumours of a small sportswear shop sitting on a treasure trove of rare Three Stripes finds. Their meeting with enigmatic shop owner Carlos and subsequent discovery of an armful of deadstock adidas rarities was immortalised in the short documentary ‘Sole Searching in South America’, which is well worth a watch for any adidas fan. Check out the video below, then head to our website to grab a pair of New Yorks for yourself.