LONDON, May 3 Reuters As Adidas aims to build on hot demand for its threestriped white and black Samba and multicoloured Gazelle sneakers, it39;s also taking steps to prevent the shoes from becoming victims of their own success.

The German sportswear giant ramped up production of the sneakers, known as terrace shoes and inspired by soccer fans39; footwear in the 1970s and 80s. Sales subsequently jumped from a couple of hundred thousand pairs a month at the start of last year to millions of pairs a month, according to CEO Bjorn Gulden, with Adidas now looking to further increase their popularity.

The company said terrace shoe sales helped drive its strong performance in the first quarter, without giving detailed figures for the Samba, Gazelle and Spezial. The shoes are priced at around 90 and up, with limited edition collaborations costing up to 350.

Investors and analysts are watching closely for signs of Adidas becoming overly reliant on the shoes, with the abrupt ending of the highly profitable Yeezy business still fresh in their memories. Adidas made a loss last year for the first time in 30 years after its breakup with U.S. rapper and producer Kanye West brought that trendy sneaker line to an end.

The Adidas Samba won Footwear News39; 2023 Shoe of the Year award, the first win for the brand since the Yeezy Boost 350 in 2015.

Bernstein analyst Aneesha Sherman estimates the terrace shoes will drive 1.5 billion euros 1.61 billion of sales this year, around 7 of…