Sneaker Wars: The Real Story Behind adidas vs PUMA

Ever seen a sibling rivalry turn into two of the biggest sportswear empires on Earth?

Before adidas was synonymous with shell toes and track tops, and before PUMA made its mark with terrace classics and breakdancer-approved suedes, it all started with two German brothers, a small-town shoe factory, and a feud so fiery it split a town straight down the middle.

Almost a century ago, Adi Dassler and Rudolf Dassler began making handmade sports shoes for small-time athletes. Through impeccable design and unbeatable craftsmanship, the demand for these shoes got so high that they started the Dassler Brothers Shoe Factory, or Gebrüder Dassler Schuhfabrik, as it was known back in 1924 Germany.

The company was an incredible success, owing to Adi's expertise in sporting goods and product innovation, and Rudolf's natural marketing skills. In fact, these two gentlemen were behind the shoes that Jesse Owens wore when he won four golds in the 1936 Olympic Games, a turning point for the Dassler Brothers Shoe Factory and for the brothers themselves.

This harmonious and successful brotherhood however began to break down within a matter of years. As World War II broke out, Adi Dassler was drafted however only served briefly before being discharged as his work at the Dassler Brothers Shoe Factory was seen as essential for the war effort. A couple years later however, in 1943, Rudolf was also conscripted and did not receive the same treatment. Instead he was forced to serve in the trenches, something which caused his resentment for his brother to grow only stronger.

After the war, while the rest of the world celebrated, the Dassler brothers continued to fight with each other. An internal power struggle for control of the company began; whilst Germany went through the denazification process each brother even went so far as to testify against each other in an attempt to assert power over the factory.

Eventually, things got from bad to worse, to the point that the Dassler brothers couldn't bear to even work with each other anymore. When they realised they had had enough of one another, they split the company in half. Adi kept control of the factory and rebranded it to adidas (combining his names together, Adi and Dassler), while Rudolf, on the other hand, left to form Ruda, later PUMA, just across the river in their hometown of Herzogenaurach.

This bad blood split the town into two. In fact, the place was later dubbed 'The Town Of The Bent Necks' since everyone had to look down at your shoes to tell which side you were on.

Through all this negativity, some huge milestones for sneakers came out of this sibling rivalry. adidas held a vast array of patents which paved the way to its massive success today, and PUMA invented the screw-in football boot stud, which is an innovation used in some of the world's finest football boots.

Even after both Adi and Rudolf passed in 1978 and 1974 respectively, this family feud continued. The pair were buried at opposite ends of Herzogenaurach's cemetery and the control of their companies then passed down to their families.

In 2009, adidas and PUMA played a football match against each other. The players wore shirts which were adorned with both logos as a sign of peace. Although Adi and Rudolph weren't there to see it, they were most likely looking down at the pitch with a grin, wondering why they even hated each other in the first place.