End x Adidas Samba 'Past'
I remember when confirmed ran the Consortium Cup & I saw this pair. These were hands down my favorite pair out of the entire competition & are honestly one of my favorite Sambas to release to date. The material quality, selection of materials, & the subtle details truly made these feel a step above the rest.
Materials: Starting at the toe cap, we have a hemp-like material in it's natural shade. Underneath the canvas is a very premium cream suede that is really soft to touch & has a nice color change when brushing across. If compared to another design, I would say the suede quality is similar to a Made NB in terms of softness. On the stripes they went with a canvas like material with a Persian rug pattern that has subtle frey to it. The canvas isn't soft like a rug, but is soft like a fabric. Behind the stripes, is the word "past" debossed in gold. My favorite feature of these is inside the 👟. They used the same rug pattern behind the entire tongue and on the insole. Lastly, they added some more branding on the tongue with "past" & "End" debossed in gold on the left shoe & the adidas trefoil logo on the right pair (they even snuck in the subtle "End" logo on the back heel). Overall, this was really well designed & I'm super grateful to have copped on release day.
Comfort: imo, the Samba is a fairly comfortable shoe. It has a nice arch support, but is very low to the ground as well. If comparing to another model, I would say it's similar to dunk, but w/ arch support. I personally would't choose a samba if I knew I was going to be out all day. In terms of sizing, I went tts and this sneaker fit me well, but slightly snug due to the narrow shape.
Overall Opinion: like I stated at the beginning, this was definitely the best pair from the Consortium Cup & truthfully, there were some great designs, but what stood out to me on these was the level of creativity & unique material choices they chose to use on these. The suede was very soft & the choice of the rug pattern is truthfully what caught my eye. It was overall just a beautifully designed sneaker.