- adidas has entered the premium slide game with the debut of the truly luxurious Wales Bonner Adilette.
- Featuring handcrafted leather uppers woven in Brazil and a tyre-like outsole, they're an elevated take on an adidas classic.
- The adidas Wales Bonner Adilette is currently available from adidas stores and online, with an Australian RRP of $550.
adidas has given its humble Adilette slide a luxe makeover, teaming up with menswear legend Wales Bonner to breathe new life into this iconic shower shoe.
The Adilette first debuted in 1972 as an EVA slip-on designed to prevent athlete’s foot; boasting a waterproof exterior, affordability, soft cushioning, and effortless on-off appeal. Quickly proving itself as a value proposition, the silhouette soon leapt from football locker rooms to five-star poolside lounging, cementing its place as one of Adidas’s most ubiquitous sandals.
RELATED: The Best Summer Slides For Your Boat-To-Bar Needs
Wales Bonner’s new collaboration brings a touch of high fashion without veering into gimmickry. Where Gucci once hand-crafted its own ostentatious take on the Adilette in Italy for an eye-watering price, Wales Bonner opts for a more measured approach.
The classic plastic “bandage” upper is swapped for textured, woven leather, while beneath the iconic three stripes sits a premium leather footbed that's guaranteed to soften and mould to your feet over time – a far cry from the standard plastic base. The real talking point, however, is the outsole, which features a tyre-tread pattern inspired by the African community tradition of repurposing old rubber into durable soles.
Available in two subtly sophisticated colourways – Wonder White/Indigo and Dark Brown/Wonder White/Night Brown – each pair costs $550 (roughly fourteen times the price of a standard Adilette). It’s a masterclass in taking something as straightforward as a shower sandal and transforming it into a covetable piece of footwear artistry.
