Originally introduced in 1969, the Superstar began its early years on the basketball courts of America. The shell toe design was intended to protect the toes of the players. The shoe is one of the most popular adidas models ever and has been released in hundreds of various designs over the years. Up until the 1980's, the Superstar was made in France along with the Pro model and Ultra Star.

In early 2005, adidas released a series of adidas Superstar shoes to celebrate the models 35th birthday. The shoes were batched into groups and released over several months. The initial release was in very limited quantities (700 pairs of each shoe or less). The groups that followed were released in bigger quantities, but still somewhat limited. The final group was a general release and available all over the world. 35 different models were released in all, with the 35th shoe being a highly exclusive model. The shoe was only obtainable by winning a pair from adidas and never released for sale. The 35th shoe, which was known as the "Top Secret" shoe came in a special presentation case.