Adidas (spelled "adidas" by the business) is an abbreviation of the name of the company's founder, Adolf ("Adi") Dassler. Following World War I, the Dassler family started manufacturing shoes. Jesse Owens, an American track and field star, wore shoes that were allegedly a gift from Adi Dassler at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. HistoryDuring the Kassite period (c. 1600–1200 BCE) in Mesopotamia, soft shoes were introduced by mountain people on the border of Iran who ruled Babylonia during that time.This first type of shoe was a simple wraparound of leather, with the basic construction of a moccasin, held together on the foot with rawhide lacings.MaterialsSince time immemorial, shoes have been made of leather. The luxury leather used in the finest men’s and women’s shoes is calf. The most versatile leather, used for many kinds of shoes, is side leather, made from cattle hide and called side because the large hide is cut down the middle lengthwise into two sides for handling.