Rishi Sunak, Adidas Sambas and the end of a trend

Critics may claim Rishi Sunak has many reasons to say sorry, but few will have anticipated the "fulsome apology" that he has now offered – for wearing fashionable trainers. 

Adidas Sambas have been "everyone's favourite sneaker" for decades, said GQ's style editor Murray Clark, but the prime minister "ruined it" by wearing a pair in a recent Downing Street interview. Sunak teamed his Sambas "with skinny slacks and a tailored white shirt", said Michael Hogan in The Observer. "a look that aims for 'Succession'-style stealth wealth but lands on midlife crisis fintech mogul". 

'Deeply insincere and uncool'

The "unstoppable rise" of Sambas to a must-have for everyone from fashionistas to celebrities is "difficult to parse", said The Telegraph. Designed in 1949, they are simply "bog-standard black and white gum-soled trainers", although their price tag of around £90 is "comparatively fair" compared to "other cult" footwear. 

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After repeatedly getting flak over his penchant for Prada shoes and designer suits, Sunak's more affordable footwear for his Instagram interview with an influencer was clearly a bid to "present himself as young and hip", said GQ's Clark. 

Yet, "as deeply insincere and uncool as he is", said Clive Martin in The New Statesman, the PM is very much a "trainer native". Born in 1980, Sunak would have grown up with trainers "as the norm" for everyday wear. And despite the recent Sambas furore, the likelihood is that he is merely "aping the style of the 'tech bros' he so clearly admires".

'It's just over'

Sunak's Sambas sparked mockery on social media, with one X user noting "how clean they are", while another tweeted: "We had a good run." The prime minister "has done for the Samba silhouette what Liz Truss and Nadine Dorries did for the all-white trainer", said The Telegraph. "He has made it criminally – perhaps permanently – uncool."

 The backlash has prompted a wry response from Sunak. "I issue a fulsome apology to the Samba community," he told LBC's Nick Ferrari yesterday. "But, in my defence, I would say I have been wearing Adidas trainers including Sambas – and others, in fact – for many, many years." 

Whatever his motives for sporting Sambas, what the trainers row really underlines is that "it's just over" for the Tories, said Hugo Rifkind in The Times. "And before any one of his rivals imagines they could do a better job, they should walk a mile in his shoes. Not that he has, of course. They clearly just came out of the box."