Gino Iannucci x adidas Samba ADV RYR 'Black Blue Bird'
Colorway: Core Black/Cloud White/Blue Bird · Style code: GY6941 · Release date: November 5, 2022 · Price: $113 · Availability: Available now
Leather is the first thing separating this from most Samba ADVs, which usually turn up in suede. adidas lists the colours as Core Black, Cloud White and Blue Bird, giving the shoe a sharp three-part contrast rather than the tonal treatments the skate line often favours. The ADV platform underneath adds support structures and hard-wearing materials to the standard pattern, so the pair holds up against griptape while keeping the low, flat proportions that make a Samba recognisable from any distance.
The release came on 5 November 2022 at 110 dollars in the United States, ten above general-release pricing and a fair reflection of the extra build. Skate versions of heritage silhouettes occupy a strange position. They are working footwear for a small group of people and fashion product for a much larger one, and the same shoe has to satisfy both without looking compromised to either. The Samba suits that job because its shape needs no justification; it was a working shoe long before it was anything else. A black leather make with one saturated blue accent is about as close as the line comes to a dress version of a skate shoe.