This is Stan

51Forget Givenchy’s zebra mules or YSL’s feathery sandals, it’s the humble white trainer that fashion folk repeatedly turn to: the Adidas Stan Smith to be exact. Today Stan Smiths are available in a host of colours and materials, for men, women and children. Almost every pair produced bears the name and face of the actual Mr Stan Smith, the world’s most unassuming style icon, marking the longest and one of the most lucrative relationships in sports-shoe history.

We meet in New York, where Stan Smith, now 71, is visiting his 13 th grandchild and promoting his first book, a Rizzoli coffee-table tome called Some People Think I Am a Shoe, which charts his tennis career, including winning Wimbledon, and the inexorable rise of the Stan Smith trainer. It’s also a glossy look at today’s trainer culture. “The tennis people, they may not want to read it,” laughs Smith, who, with the air of a distinguished gent, still seems bemused by the whole thing. “But the sneakerheads will, because it delves into the history of trainers in general.”

There are also anecdotes from long-term fans, including Jeremy Scott and Karlie Kloss. “Honestly, I’ve got so many,” he laughs. And for two hours, Smith regales me with stories — those that made it into the book and those that didn’t.

Some people don’t know who he is at all, a fact Smith finds entertaining rather than insulting. “Someone who interviewed me told me he met his wife wearing Stan Smiths, so they got married in them. Last year at Wimbledon, Hugh Grant said, ‘You know, the first girl I ever kissed was wearing your shoe.’ A guy in Japan who interviewed me a couple of years ago said he has been wearing blue pants, a white shirt and my shoes for the past 13 years. But lots of people who wear the shoes have no idea who I am or that I even exist!”

Over its 55-year history, the white trainer has had the type of highprofile endorsements that brands spend millions securing today. “There wasn’t any rhyme or reason, it just seemed to take off,” Smith says. “It’s a shoe that can work, that’s so simple and comfortable to wear with anything. It transcended the sports world into the cultural world.” The high-fashion association came in 2010, when Phoebe Philo took her bow on the Céline catwalk wearing crisp white Stan Smiths.

Editors quickly swapped their heels for the minimal sneaker, ushering in a new lo-fi style of dress. Marc Jacobs was a loyal wearer. Collaborations with Kate Moss and Raf Simons followed.

There wasn’t any rhyme or reason; the shoe transcended the sports world, into the cultural world

Namechecked in one of Jay-Z’s songs as early as 2001, Stan Smiths have also popped up in lyrics by A$AP Rocky and Lil Wayne among others, securing its position in the hip-hop world. Usher is a bona fide fan, as is Pharrell Williams, who wrote the foreword to Smith’s book and has collaborated several times with Adidas. “We met two years ago at the US Open, watching Serena [Williams] play. The hall held about 20,000 people, and I asked him ‘What do you think of this venue?’ and he replied ‘Yeah, it’s pretty big.’ I said ‘Well, what’s the biggest number of people you’ve performed in front of?’ and he said ‘About 100,000’,” Smith laughs.

“He knew Serena, but he didn’t know anything about tennis. He could appreciate the entertainment value, though. He had triplets, so I sent them some shoes and a note saying, ‘Three kids, three stripes, three Stan Smiths — a good way to start life.’ That’s my favourite gift.”

The trainer has also had the royal seal of approval: at last year’s Wimbledon, Smith presented two pairs to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. ‘They invite past men’s winners to the final, so we were having tea afterwards and I spent about 15 minutes with Kate and William. I said, ‘I’ve got these pink shoes for Charlotte and a green pair for George.’ I signed them, too, and they were all excited as they had seen Serena play the day before and had played together at home afterwards, so they were inspired! I hope they’re going to become the face of Wimbledon like the Duchess of Kent was. It would be great to have the younger generation representing tennis.”

Smith is an unlikely ambassador for fashion’s hippest trainer. Born in Pasadena, California, the 6ft 4in US tennis star started the sport late in life; he first picked up a racket in high school aged 16. He went on to win the US Open in 1971 aged 25, followed by Wimbledon in 1972. He has been married to his wife, Marjory Gengler, a fellow tennis player, for 44 years and together they have four children.

“She has been involved in everything I’ve ever done, so it was appropriate to have pictures of her in the book,” he says. Shortly after his Wimbledon win, he was tapped by Adidas to represent its all-leather white tennis shoe, with a rounded toe, green ankle tab and perforated Adidas stripes. Smith’s agent, Donald Dell, negotiated the picture of Smith’s face on the tongue, which appeared in 1978, making the man inseparable from the trainer, despite the fact it doesn’t feature his signature moustache. “So I’m not always recognised,” he says. He even paid for a pair of his trainers once. “It was about 15 years ago in Florence — an all-black pair I hadn’t seen before. My wife even showed them my credit card. Either the sales assistant didn’t believe it was me or didn’t care.”

Despite rubbing shoulders with royalty and dining with presidents, Smith is happiest at home in Hilton Head, South Carolina, with his everexpanding family. As well as his Adidas commitments, he is president of the International Tennis Hall of Fame and he still coaches most afternoons at his tennis academy. He also runs a corporate events company that sees him travel to the biggest sporting competitions, and he is about to embark on a book tour.

“At the end of the book, there’s the hashtag #StanSmithForever. I want people to send in their stories. Maybe we’ll do a sequel.” He continues: “The shoe is non-political, nongenerational and unisex. My goal, in some little way, is that it brings unity to people around the world.” ‘Some People Think I Am a Shoe’ by Stan Smith, is published by Rizzoli, and is available now

I sent Pharrell shoes for his triplets and a note saying, ‘Three kids, three stripes, three Stan Smiths – a good way to start life’