Wales Bonner x adidas Samba Pony 'Black'
Colorway: Core Black/Cream White/Cream White · Style code: IE0580 · Release date: November 8, 2023 · Price: $500 · Availability: Available now
More colorways: Adidas Wales Bonner Sailor Jacket (JM8217) · Adidas Wales Bonner Quilted Jacket (KE9956SHAMAR) · Wales Bonner x adidas Samba 'Black' (FX7517) · Wales Bonner x adidas Samba 'Scarlet' (GY6612) · Adidas x Wales Bonner Shorts 'White' (KR8773)
Hair-on hide in black is the quietest possible use of an obviously unquiet material. From a few paces this reads as an ordinary dark Samba; up close the nap catches light in a way suede never does, and the panels shift tone as the foot moves. adidas lists the colours as Core Black with Cream White, and the construction underneath is standard, from the T-shaped toe overlay to the flat sole and the low collar.
The price was 200 dollars and the date 8 November 2023, shared with a cream pair at the same figure and a leopard version at 220. Of the three, this is the one that survives daily wear. Dark hair-on hide absorbs the marking that ruins a pale pair, and the colour lets the shoe pass in places where a patterned upper would not. It is also the clearest illustration of how Grace Wales Bonner has treated the model since 2020: leave the silhouette exactly as adidas drew it, then change what it is made of. Her London label, founded in 2014, has taken that approach across dozens of adidas releases, and the Samba has absorbed more of them than any other shape in the partnership.