Adidas Samba 'Vegan - Black'
Colorway: Cloud White/Core Black/Gum · Style code: FX9042 · Price: $290 · Availability: Available now
More colorways: Adidas Samba 'Vegan' (FW2427) · Adidas Samba Vegan 'Christmas' (GZ4711) · adidas Samba Vegan 'Black Gum' (H01878) · adidas Samba Vegan 'White Gum' (H01877) · Disney x adidas Samba Vegan 'Minnie Mouse' (GY1890)
Everything visible about this pair is standard Samba and almost nothing about its materials is. adidas lists Cloud White, Core Black and Gum, the combination that has carried the model for decades, but the upper is synthetic throughout, part of the Vegan range that takes animal-derived materials out of the shoe. Leather and suede have always been this silhouette's defining surfaces, so replacing both is a larger change here than it would be on a knit runner, and the difference shows up in how the shoe creases and how it breaks in.
The United States retail was 80 dollars, below the 100 adidas charges for an adult Samba OG in leather, which is the opposite of what people tend to assume about animal-free construction. Synthetic uppers change the ownership experience in ways worth knowing. They wipe clean easily and shrug off water better than suede, but they never soften across months of wear, so the fit stays close to how it felt on day one. For anyone who wants the shape and the colour scheme without the hide, or who simply wants a pair that can be hosed down, this is the version that answers both. It sits beside the leather pairs rather than replacing them.