Fashion history; the story about Adidas and Puma

Adidas and Puma -storytelling part two

Adidas slippers - home necessities

Adidas slippers – home necessities

Around 100 years ago in a German town called Herzogenaurach lived Dassler family. Mother, father, a daughter and three sons. Their mother owned laundry service and father worked in a shoe fabric with his eldest son Fritz. Other two sons and daughter engaged to help their mother with laundry services.

When the World War I. starts things changes. All off three sons were recruited in the war and all three luckily returned home with no injuries. But the whole German economy was “injured” and in a very bad situation. People were struggling to retrieve their lives back in normal. The Herzogenarauch citizens could not afford themselves the luxurious services of lady Dassler, so the family business crashes…

The youngest son, Adolf, was very determined to start something new and to success. He had a clear vision he follows…

Shoes making was a town tradition before wartime. The most of the factories were shutting down during the war.  Adolf after coming home decides to start a new company making exclusively sports shoes. It was Adolf’s vision.

At first, he starts designing and producing sports shoes in mothers wash hall. Luckily for him, his father, the eldest brother and the whole town were very familiar with the industry process. In that matter, he has no troubles to start the business.

After few years, in the early 1920s, his brother Rudolf joins him and they start Dasslers’ brother’s shoe factory.

Adolf was creative visionary individual managing whole creative process while the elder brother was a great salesman, PR manager, and bookman. Things were good years and years coming after. They got married, they got kids, the business flourished in next years and they become very wealthy family. The factory moved to a bigger place and two brothers with their families moved to a great big house together.

Companys’ golden age

A decade after establishing the company Olimpic games came to Germany. The visionary Adolf saw a great opportunity for the company in that situation. Knowing all the world’s greatest sportsman are going to be there he went to the Olympic village and ended with Jesse Owens wearing his sneakers while winning.

The gold medal winner on Olympics games wears the shoes he made. That was a great, huge, publicity for Dasslers’ company and a huge success for him and for the entire company.  After that, the production exploded. But there were some other things that were about to explode also.

The World War II. was about to happen. In that period family feud was about to happen, too. Brothers’ wives found it very difficult to get along together after moving in the same house. In that area, things were getting worst and worst. Rapidly. At the end, two brothers announce to their employees that they are going to separate. Adolf gets the existing shoe fabric and renamed it into Adidas ( ADI DASSLER)…

Rudolf, on the other hand, established a new company. Firstly, Rudolf names his company RUDA and after a period renamed to PUMA. He was thinking that Puma will sound better on the market. He knows. After all, he was market oriented in previous company.

After announcement half of previous company’s employees follows Rudolf in Puma and the other half, mostly craftsmen, remaines with Adolf in the new company called Adidas.

It is how two giant sports brands are born.
After that, the companies remained two biggest rivals for decades. The story says that the city previously divided only by the river Aurach become divided by two shoe companies and Dassler familys’ feud.

The story says that the city previously divided only by the river Aurach become divided by two shoe companies and Dasslers’ family feud. Allegedly, people in the town before speaking to each other looked the shoes they were wearing. Those wearing Puma sneakers could not speak to those wearing Adidas.

The feud never ended even though the family protagonist from the story are all in the same cemetery. Opposite sides, of course. They are still competing against each other. Season after season on the fashion market fields.

Adidas Superstar

Adidas Superstar

These are some of the fashionable stormtroopers on the market from Adidas and Puma designing laboratories

 

 

 

last year, in 2016, this story gets filmed;

Duell der Brüder – Die Geschichte von Adidas und Puma
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5013980/

Comments (2)

  1. It’s hard to come by educated people in this particular topic, however, you seem like you know what you’re talking about! Thanks

    26/09/2017 Reply
  2. Thank you, V.Gillin. Appreciate that

    27/09/2017 Reply

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