B.ELITE H ITALIA SPORT

B.Elite, a brand icon which has been recast to evoke the 1980 OG model specially created to celebrate the epic tennis players of that decade.

Highlights

• Italian-made
• OG colours

B.Elite H Italia Sport is an Italian-made Heritage sneaker crafted from premium leather with pigskin detailing. Italian design and skilled craftsmanship for this model.

Since its initial release 39 years ago, the Diadora B. Elite has successfully cemented its place in sneaker history, effortlessly becoming a staple across a variety of different subcultures all over the world.

First designed in 1978 for Björn Borg — the then tennis world number one ⁠— the B. Elite was made with soft kangaroo leather, a reversible insole and boasted some of the latest Diadora performance technology of the time. It was a shoe designed to deliver high-performance.

Such was Borg’s on-court success, the sneaker went on general sale in 1981. Borg himself featured in the campaign with the famous slogan, “If I were in your shoes, I’d want to buy my shoes”. The B. Elite Borg arrived in identical kangaroo skin, inside a drawstring bag with Borg’s portrait on the side and a numbered certificate showing the sneaker’s exclusivity.

Throughout the 1980s, the sneaker was starting to be seen off-court too, finding itself immersed in the infamous “Casuals” scene. Such was their obsession with trainers and sportswear, the B. Elite soon became a staple on the football terraces across Europe, and would remain there for years to come.

Almost three decades after its release, Diardora introduced its first re-release of the sneaker with Foot Patrol in 2011. Limited to 100 pairs, the white, gold and silver colorways were almost identical to the original, and even featured a kangaroo skin upper.

Nine years since its last release — and almost forty since its first — Diadora HERITAGE is bringing back the B. Elite for 2020.