The Adidas Sneakers That Designers Love to Rip-Off Are Back

Hear us out: the Adidas ‘BW Army’ is the GOAT GAT. The latter acronym isn’t a “skibidi toilet”-adjacent morsel of Generation Alpha slang: it’s short for German Army Trainer, and it refers to one of the most influential silhouettes in sneaker history.

So hear us out again, because this is where things get interesting—and a little bit complicated. For such an enduring silhouette, the German Army Trainer’s origin is sort of murky; Adidas and Puma have each claimed credit for its invention. In reality, both rival brands are responsible for manufacturing the sneaker throughout the ’70s (Adolf Dassler founded Adidas; his brother Rudolf Dassler founded Puma), when the GAT was conceived as a training shoe for the German armed forces.

The next important stop on the GAT’s journey to icon status came in the late ’90s, when designer Martin Margiela included it in his seminal spring-summer 1999 show. And because nobody actually owns the copyright to the design itself, soon enough brands across the industry were selling their own versions, too.

Now flash-forward to 2017, when the Adidas team relaunched their own model as the ‘BW Army’ sneaker, setting a very specific segment of the menswear world aflame in the process. At the time, its release was relatively short-lived, but as of this moment it’s finally back—and rendered in a who’s who of flashy new materials. The uppers are dripped out in cracked leather; smooth overlays wrap around the lacing system, sidewalls, and heel badge; and a panel of short-haired suede hits the toebox. All of that, of course, rests on top of a telltale gum-rubber midsole, a signature of the style since its debut.

That’s all good news, right? Well, here’s the rub. If prior history is any indication, expect inventory to sell through faster than you can say ‘Herzogenaurach’. We can’t remember the last time an Adidas sneaker with this much buzz returned to the digital shelves, and when word gets out (mea culpa, BTW) it won’t take long for the StockX vultures to descend. Get in while the getting’s good, and don’t say we didn’t warn you.

This story originally appeared on British GQ.