Adidas Samba OG 'Core White Almost Blue'
Colorway: Core White/Core White/Almost Blue · Style code: HP7904 · Release date: August 2, 2022 · Price: $199 · Availability: Available now
More colorways: adidas Samba OG 'Core Black' (KJ9997) · Adidas Samba OG MS 'Core Black' (BD7523) · adidas Samba OG 'Core Black Reflective' (IE9133) · Adidas Samba OG Sneakers (IG1237) · Adidas Samba OG Sneakers (IE3438)
Almost Blue is the entire departure. adidas lists Core White twice and that one pale blue as the third, so the shoe runs white with a single soft accent instead of the hard black or green contrast the model normally carries. The upper is suede, which matters more on a near-white shoe than on a dark one. The nap keeps panels visually separate when colour is doing almost no work, and it lends the white a warmth smooth leather would strip out.
It released on 2 August 2022 at 100 dollars in the United States, a general-release price in what turned out to be the model's breakout year. The summer of 2022 is when the Samba stopped being a shoe for people who already knew about it, and the colour work on general releases changed to match: softer, more neutral, less tied to football. This pair sits right inside that shift. A muted blue accent on white suede has no heritage argument behind it at all, and it did not need one. It is also among the least forgiving versions in the line, since pale suede takes a mark in the first week and never gives it back.