After a successful rollout of Kanye West’s Calabasas line, chiefly the minimal court stylings of the Powerphase, the demand for a minimal dress down court shoe from adidas has never been in higher demand. Thankfully, the powers that be over at 3 stripes HQ have tapped into their storied history of silhouettes and alongside their recent drop of the ‘Yung-1’, have provided us with multiple colourways in the Continental 80, a worthy remix to it’s OG.

As aesthetically pleasing as it’s minimal stylings are, the Continental 80 AKA the ‘Rascal’ finds itself back into the public eye thanks to Kanye’s love of the model, basing his recent Powerphase line on the forgotten tennis classic. Although an almost identical upper, the two editions differ enough to provide a unique experience. The Continental placing a two-tone stripe on its lateral sides, along with perforations to the lower register of each flank, with adidas branding and trefoil logo sitting symmetrically across both pairs.

The materialisation of this release is where the Continental moves into a different class. The tumbling of the leather across both pairs on offer, the white and off-white seen above, instantly gives the OG aura, this is a shoe that promises to age well, just like it’s predecessor.

Although sharing details with the Calabasas line, the sole and mudguard is an area also kept in the family, adopting a similar profile to Reebok’s own Workout model. Both arriving in the late 80s, the uncanny similarity becomes more peculiar when you remember that Adidas bought Reebok nearly 20 years later.

As a whole, this release is a nice surprise from the German giants, look for more retro reissues and keep an eye on the Aphrodite1994 blog for best in new releases.

Adidas Continental 80 sneakers are released 20th June 11pm.