#13 Adidas Harden Vol. 1 Black History Month (Arthur Ashe)

images via adidas

This is the one true performance shoe on the list which is a credit to the Three Stripes for producing a solid first shoe for The Beard. More important is the story behind the shoe. During Black History Month adidas decided to celebrate legendary activist and tennis player Arthur Ashe:

A trailblazer in the world of tennis, Arthur Ashe became the first African-American male to win a Grand Slam title  – not once, but three times.  The outspoken athlete broke barriers in the world of sports, utilizing his popularity to bring global attention to civil rights issues in the United States and continued his legacy of fighting for human rights abroad after retiring from professional tennis.

They did so via the Harden Volume 1. The Harden is designed perfectly for some fantastic colorblocking options. On this shoe they utilized the stark black vs white design elements to create a shoe that reflected how Ashe’s world was. As a man playing in a traditionally white sport and fighting for civil rights and aids awareness his life was a testament to how sport transcends the courts.

Price: $140

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