Stanley Roger Smith, or "Stan the Man"' as we like to call him, is a true tennis legend and one of the most respected and admired names in tennis. To most people nowadays, Stan Smith is a household name for a different reason other than his Tennis.

The adidas 'Stan Smith', which became one of the most iconic shoes in history, has kept the 'Stan Smith' name alive over the years. Stan Smith has become a legend in both the trainer and tennis worlds. For now we'll take a brief look into what made Stan such an icon of the Tennis world...where do we start?

Stan Smith won 39 singles titles over his whole career including both the US Open and Wimbledon. In his day he was unstoppable, feared, and always had the coolest shoes on court. Along with fellow professional Bob Lutz, Stan became half of one of the most respected double teams of all time.

Hopefully you all now have a better understanding of why this man is described as "tennis royalty". Now lets move onto why we he's a legend in our eyes. The adidas Stan Smith will forever be engraved into trainer history as one of the earliest 'signature' player models. The shoe was first produced in 1964 for French tennis player Robert Haillet until a certain player named Stan Smith came to adidas' attention. The rest, as they say, is history.

The 'Stan' as it became known, was as simple as simple can be and was distinctive for what it didn't have - the traditional adidas three stripes. Instead, the shoe was embellished with linear perforations which complemented the low profile, slimline tennis silhouette. Since it first hit the courts in 1971, the 'Stan' has sold over 30 million pairs worldwide.