The German Army Trainer: How the Fall of the Berlin Wall Created a Cult Classic Shoe

Whether you’re aware of it or not, the influence of the German Army Trainer — or GAT as it's colloquially known — has influenced men's fashion to an incredible degree. With design elements lifted by everyone from Adidas to Puma, and of course, Maison Margiela, let’s take a look at the surprising history of menswear’s favourite sneaker, and break down why the style has become so ubiquitous.

Rebellious History
Tracing its DNA back to the mid-1930s, the German Army Trainer has a complex history rooted in two defining acts of rebellion and a fair amount of mystery. The story begins in 1936 at the Berlin olympics, where the Dassler brothers approached Jesse Owens with a controversial proposition. Knowing that offering a black athlete German made shoes during Nazi rule would undoubtedly be dangerous, Rudi and Adolf Dassler, who had been making boundary pushing footwear for over a decade at that point, defied their government and supplied Owens with a pair of custom-built leather trainers to wear at his events. Owens' historic victories at the 1936 Olympics cemented Rudi and Adolf as huge names in the footwear industry, with the brothers going on to found Puma and Adidas respectively. At the end of World War II, the Dasslers factories were even saved from destruction by American troops because of their history.

With the country split in two after the war, Puma and Adidas both found continued success in the western Federal Republic of Germany, with each company receiving commercial success, and a litany of contracts from the government. It’s here where the history of the German Army Trainer gets confusing, as credible sources cite both Puma and Adidas as the original creator of the GAT. Popular consensus, as well as the brand themselves, believe that Adidas was the first to produce the shoe for the Bundeswehr, the Federal Republics army, in the 1980s. Puzzlingly, the Bundeswehr Museum of History has records that show the opposite, with the organisation firmly claiming that Puma was the first to hold the contract. In recent years, more confusion has arisen, with the design itself being attributed to the Bundeswehr’s in-house team, and either Puma or Adidas hired only to manufacture the shoe.

Whatever the true origin of the German Army Trainer, we do know that hundreds of thousands of pairs were made throughout the 1980s, supplying the Bundeswehr’s force of 500,000 troops with a sports shoe geared towards flexibility and comfort, making them ideal for training. After the Berlin Wall fell in 1989 and reunification talks began, a restructuring of the German Army sent a huge quantity of GAT’s to surplus stores, which were then picked up cheaply by kids who instantly recognised it as a cheap but incredibly stylish shoe. Within 10 years of GAT’s hitting consumer shelves in Germany, they had developed a cult following which was only intensified when Maison Margiela used refurbished Bundeswehr GAT’s in their 1999 Spring/Summer show. Since then, the shoe has become one of the most recognisable and widely produced designs on the market, with the fact that nobody ‘owns’ the design making it fertile ground for reinterpretation, replica, and reproduction.

Versatile and Stylish
The history of the German Army Trainer is a fascinating one, but it doesn’t explain why a Cold War era military training shoe has become a staple of modern menswear. With help from designers like Margiela spearheading the introduction of the shoe into the fashion world, the GAT was easily incorporated into a huge variety of looks and circles, which helped its acceptance into the wider market, and built an easy understanding of how to wear it on the consumer end.

The shoe is incredibly versatile. The fact that it has both a slim profile and military roots sets it apart from other military shoes, making the German Army Trainer feel at home in almost everything it’s paired with. Paired with classic military pieces that have also been re-contextualised into smarter choices like chinos and CPO shirts, the GAT’s can pull together a look that feels smart but not overdressed. Contrarily, using the style in a more contemporary look, with wide leg jeans and a fitted tee, can make for a simple but incredibly stylish casual outfit. The GAT is easy to wear, and that has been abundantly clear since its inception.

Modern GAT’s
GAT’s are ubiquitous in today’s market, so it can sometimes be difficult to narrow down your choice, and we felt the same when looking for a brand to stock ours! In the end, we discovered Reproduction of Found, a brand that adheres extremely close to the shoes original design, but makes slight improvements that make the model durable and suited to everyday use. Using the original BW (Bundeswehr) Sport soles, a supple Nappa leather, and a pig leather lining, Reproduction of Found has crafted a GAT that rivals the original at a price that wont break the bank.