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Why is adidas so Hot in 2022?

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Picture taken from google images – HypeBeast

EDIT: This was written pre-Yeezy scandal which saw adidas taking huge hits to its yearly predicted profits. That being said, the adidas Originals line-up was still fire, so a lot of this piece still stands.

Back in March 2021 I found myself having to paint the shed. This unfortunately seems to be a designated role of mine whenever I’m at home, which because the lockdowns, had not been the case for almost a year. Knowing I’d be spending the next hour or so repeatedly moving a brush back and forth, I decided to queue a favourite podcast of mine, The Complex Sneaker Podcast. The episode featured Jerry Lorenzo and Jason Mayden, two big names when talking the world of design and contributions to footwear culture. That episode, more than any other had left a huge impact on me and my understanding of the footwear scene. With Jerry Lorenzo having signed on as President to the newly founded Fear of God Athletics under the adidas Umbrella, and Jason Mayden now Managing Business and Creative Strategy Globally for adidas Basketball, the duo took to the pod in order to discuss their future plans.

“A lot of my personal memories of the brand are super iconic. There are so many revolutionary individuals that were championing the brand that were aspirational to me as a kid. The Sambas were some of the first shoes that I had in high school that I would wear with my Umbro shorts and Daisy Dukes. What I love about the brand is this juxtaposition in association with these high-level Revolutionaries like Kanye West, Mike Tyson, Mohammed Ali and David Beckham. The product has always taken a backseat and I love how the product allows individuals to shine. It’s always felt like when I put on a pair of adidas it allows for my own swag to take president. It feels like I’m wearing the shoes, not like the shoes are wearing me.”

-Jerry Larenzo

“My relationship with adidas was on the heels of the people who stood in front of adversity and challenges and authentically themselves. Flow Joe, Mohammed Ali, Run DMC these people crossed over and were a spine breaker. As a kid who grew up in Hip Hop culture you started to see the nuances of people who did not fit in, they made it okay to be other. So for me adidas represents more of an idea more so than a product and a company, that idea is individualism. That’s what I like about this opportunity is that we get a chance to paint a new narrative, where the protagonist is the hero, not the artifact. Not the product itself but the person. I think that’s important for the person in this generation because when they’re seeking authenticity, it’s really hard to be authentic when you’re chasing a trend but it’s easy to be authentic when we’re standing in our truth. adidas has always stood in its truth and I get a chance to extend that legacy into the future.”

– Jason Mayden
image from google/solecollector

What stuck with me was both of their takes on adidas as a brand. I had personally never seen the company in that light before, only having warmed to it myself the past year or so. To me adidas had seemed a little lost after their complete takeover back in 2015/16. They had experienced a huge peak but had since become lost, the fog near the top of the mountain obscuring their view of the path upwards.

Since moving and working to Manchester however, the love for the brand was a lot more noticeable. Working in the Bristol store prior to the move meant I started to question the brands history more and more. The Trimm Trab and Kegler Supers sat on the shelf of the wall with a vast history that I wasn’t yet aware of. In fact at the time, I’d never even seen the shoes before having scanned them in during delivery. I’d been drip fed the Nike narrative for so long that I was getting schooled when it came to adidas. Thank goodness it wasn’t all Tubular’s Doom’s and Deerupts! (praying hands emoji).

There’s a special place in hell for people who enjoyed wearing these.

I myself had started to notice the Samba gain traction slowly but surely back in the end of 2020, the nostalgic seeds for the model were once again planted by Sean Wotherspoon post his Nike contract ending. He ended up doing a few limited Round Two Samba pairs in 2021 made of recycled material scraps and were made in the special German factory too. You can now seem him start to wear what I assume to be his next set of releases that he is trying to stir up traction for. Here’s hoping they do better than the previous Hot Wheels release that has just dropped.

Of course adidas were retro-ing the shoes every year or so, similar their release strategy with Shelltoes and Superstars, however I can only imagine them doing regular numbers throughout this period. Along with the Sambas, the Rivalry’s were having a small moment in 2018 before adidas went all out on their marketing for the Forums and seemed to have reached success with the model.

A lot of traction also came from strong collaborations with the world’s most streamed musician Bad Bunny and rumoured to be Louie Vuitton’s next designer, Grace Wales Bonner. The Bonner shoes were massive online in terms of Instagram presence with all your cool influencers getting off solid fits in them. This undoubtedly had a trickle-down affect with those who either didn’t know about which particular adidas shoes they were or couldn’t find them online, leading them to spend their well-earned cash on the next best thing. You even had Harry Styles on stage in Wembley performing in a pair of red Gazelles. I only noticed this myself as I thought he was wearing a pair of Napoli’s, a shoe that just so happen to be my one of my favourites, as opposed to being a massive fan of his. Aha, Watermelon Sugar yes my dudes.   

Harry Styles wearing recently released red Gazelle’s.

No doubt Lorenzo and Mayden had an affect across the campus at adidas with their ideas of the brand, igniting them to readopt their old ethos. You now see adidas being the biggest brand or at least following closely behind New Balance because of their new strategy. They have realised the strength of the crowd and letting them adopt retro silhouettes into their own wardrobe. Those who have an online following and a taste of their own are integrating these simple terraced shoes and making it their own. Granted, this sometimes comes through via a questionably tasteful 10 second video in which the person in shot will lift up their foot behind them and catch it with their hand, but that’s the future baby… or at least what has the biggest choke hold over the footwear market for the moment.

Great mini docs like these are no longer where it’s at unfortunately

Gone are the days where Air Max is everything. I myself was getting a bit tired of the rhetoric behind the importance of Classic and more obvious older silhouettes. The Shoe Dog in me wanted a doc on obscure Nike’s and the lesser known designers who made crafted them. Tinker is almost a rockstar at this point so why can’t the Swoosh try and do the same for some of the other designers. This behind the scenes stuff is something true fans of product are always here for.

At this point, even coveted Air Max and Jordan 1 models are sitting which would have been unheard of a few years ago. I believe the brand experienced the peak of this love during and post lockdowns once Netflix’s The Last Dance had had its huge cultural impact. The documentary had showed everyone watching why these shoes were so important. We no longer needed OG Sneaker Heads with extensive Jordan collections to tell us why, from their first-hand experiences and memories, because now we had them too! People who had never had a chance to experience watching Jordan play had now seen the magic and alien abilities of the man almost first-hand. The Documentary did so well to remove the barrier of time which is normally experienced through old footage quality that ends up creating a gap between the viewer and the art.

I was working in retail during this period and the want for anything Jordan was relentless. Every day at least 40% of customers would come in asking where the Jordan section was, it was madness. This carried on throughout the rest 2020 and into the first half of 2021 too. Thankfully or not, depending on how you see it, the hype train has indeed slowed down with 2022 being the year for adidas and new balance.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CfeGd5JPfcD/

The generation born in the 90s and 2000s experienced enough of depending on the past for its footwear and put its own spin on it. Of course, models such as the Gazelle and Samba are in fact shoes created back in the 60s, yet given this gap of over half a century, the cultural and historical markers are less defined or at least more obscure as they are with 90s releases. Unless your Grandpa or Grandma were running track or game for that matter, they would have unlikely come across such shoes. It was more likely that you’d see a picture of your Mum and Dad rocking now-evangelised Nike models from old family snaps, than you would of Grandpa Joe hitting a topspin forehand in his Stand Smith’s. Even if your Grandparents were the coolest of cats, they probably wouldn’t have had the photos to prove it, funny how that works. So a lot of this nostalgia is unfortunatley limited by format.

Unless this was your Grandma, how else are we to experience some adidas Marathon’s in action without relying on old sporting photos!?

With the dawn of new technological formats, comes a much-needed shift in ideas, and one which luckily went in tandem with that of adidas product. The 10 second Reel or video relies on the fast and now, the old picture format which I would argue is still relevant today, unfortunately looks to the past all too much. You might see a picture of someone wearing a classic Jordan (peep @no.idea.is.original for what I mean) but you don’t have a 10 vid of them getting sturdy in some Jordan Aqua 8’s from when they originally released.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Cj244gOuB-K/

The cultural power has now been handed, for the most part to your smaller creators, ones who don’t seem to detatched from our own reality. If Rachel or John are running about their second-hand clothing business in a pair of adidas, then why can’t Wendy or Peter getting the bus to work feel the same way when they lace up their pair of three stipes? The power is in the people. Like Jason said, “the protagonist is the hero, not the artefact.”

Shoes

Does the Skepta x Puma Deal Make Sense?

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Since Grime MC Legend, DJ, Producer, Actor and artist Skepta’s Nike contract ended earlier this year, he has wasted no time in finding another brand to keep his feet laced. What may at first have seemed like an unlikely partnership may actually have been the best move for the newly found music label and German footwear company.

We firstly got hints at a possible Nike collaboration way back in 2014, before any SK Air logo hit the streets of London (lots of people thought this was a Sadiq Kahn collab which could have been lowkey fire). Skepta and a few BBK members donned what looked like an exclusive all black Nike Tracksuit on stage at Red Bull Culture Clash, a subtle large swoosh across the chest.

This was before the Swoosh was coming out with clothing encompassing large logos and about two years before Virgil had released his The Ten collection. I mention this collection to say, after witnessing the consumers reception, there was a huge directional change in terms of design philosophy, adopting their ethos from someone who birthed brands such as Off White and Hood By Air. The tracksuit BBK members were wearing on stage at Culture Clash was supposedly designed by Skepta himself and had tapped into something different before the brand itself had even realised it. The MC even had a bit of a Kanye moment a year or so down the line in 2015 suggesting in an interview that the brand had been difficult to work with and were being finicky when it came to the contract details.

As we all know now, Skepta’s run of Air Max’s all did exceptionally well with is first release, the 97 arguably being the best of the bunch. All of his shoes had its own unique spin, even the “No Sleep on Tour” inspired Air Max Deluxe. Unfortunately this one felt most like Nike’s attempt to add much-desired traction onto a silhouette they had retro’d for that year (2018) only to receive a mixed reception.

After the release of the Tailwind 5’s in the two colourways, Skepta’s five shoe deal was over and he was a free agent once again. This was also made clear by the abundance of Prada America Cup’s and other high end fashion shoe’s he was rocking on his socials. Whilst he is by no means alien to high fashion, he made it abundantly clear that no sportswear brands were getting any unpaid shine till a cheque was cleared. Much to everyone’s surprise, he debuted the announcement that Big Smoke Corp was signing a deal with Puma. Whilst a large portion of his fans don’t see this as a wise idea, I beg to differ.

We’ve recently seen New Balance blow up the last two years with their solid releases of old models and great roster of collaborations. However, in my opinion this hype train can only go on for so long before it eventually gets slowed down by the ever-changing trends. Puma is a brand that has not been ‘on top’ since the Puma Suede’s had a moment back in 2012. This was the precursor to the Stan Smith moment that occurred shortly after that. You know for a fact that every teenage girl and boy were hitting up Schuh and Office walking out feeling funky fresh in their new Stan Smith’s. Many PE lessons were seldom filled with Bethany arguing her pair was better than Tallulah’s because she had pink lace tips, a detail she looks back on now as the birthing of her wokeness. #Slay?

Ten years have passed  since then, with brands like Asics having their Gel Lyte era, adidas Boost doing its thing and now New Balance with their current reign. All have basked in their temporary time in the Sun, only to be eventually blocked out by Nike, once they had figured out how to catch up. With this logical pattern in mind, I think Puma is set to have a rise within the next two to three years. They have shown some promise with silhouettes such as the Thunder Spectra selling out back in 2019, a shoe which provided sneaker heads with a more accessible alternative to the Wave Runner 700 which debuted back in 2017. They also had steady success with their RS Runner lines which can be seen on foot in your local City if you pay close attention. Puma has proved they can successfully collaborate with celebrities as we’ve seen with their majorly successful Puma x Fenty line. Rhianna clearly does a lot to sell this product through the sheer weight of her name however the marketing for the shoes were also a huge factor behind its success. The partnership ended after the 2018 summer collection but this was after a few years of consistently high sales.

I see no reason why Big Smoke Corp’s collaboration can’t do the same. Skepta clearly has proven himself at Nike with the ability to resonate with sneakerheads both in the UK and across the pond. Whilst his choice of Air Max silhouettes was backed with personal attachments and memories, this was only a partial factor in the success of his shoes. Whilst Skepta’s history with Puma as a product may be sparse, it is no problem for him to paint a picture (pardon the pun) when it comes to storytelling. For example, it’s not like Stormzy was rocking Gazelles during Northampton away at Rochdale, whilst on the piss with the lads and tucking into a Pucka Pie (don’t compromise). Yet he still managed to make the adidas tracksuit massively popular again with his Fire in the Park music video. Both him and Kanye made the black adi Tracksuit bottoms practically uniform back in the run of 2015 to 2017. This just goes to show how an artist can adopt an entirely new product or brand and make it their own. If you want another and more direct example of this simply look at Skepta’s Ed Hardy era of style and how he embraced that brand. This was a total 180 compared to the 2015 That’s Not Me era of a simple white T shirt and black tracksuit combinations. The guy can undoubtedly switch it up without anyone blinking an eye. This being said, there is a whole lot more attention on the artist now than there was even back in 2015 so his moves are being increasingly watched.

He recently took to the art world with his debut painting, Mamma Goes to Market. This was sold, along with a curated collection from friends and artists, in London’s Sotheby’s. The painting went for double its max expected sale price at £80,000 pounds. It is almost as if everything he touches turns to gold and I can’t see that changing for in relation to his current footwear deal.

Now we don’t know about the final ins and outs of the contracts at the moment. For all we know it could be like the UFC’s previous Reebok deal in which we saw Dana’s athletes obligingly wear the product for cage walks and press events. This could be the same for the Big Smoke Corp deal as artist under the label may have to wear a certain amount of Puma product in order to be part of the musical umbrella. Think signing your contract with BSC, receiving the silver razor blade chain, then getting handed a pair of Puma Suede’s and having to remove your pair of high-end kicks you bought in anticipation of your contract signing. Goals? I mean I wouldn’t mind, throw me some Puma Rockets instead and we’re sound.

We can see Skepta already appearing in Puma shoes and clothing over on his Instagram. He wore a simple black and white colourway when making the short walk to his private jet and also during his performance at New York Fashion Week. Whilst the brand is small compared to the likes of Nike and adidas, it has got an extensive catalogue and rich history to tap into. Take a look in Sneaker Freaker’s Soled Out and you can not only see the history for yourself, but how popular the cat was too.

If Skepta and Puma work together to hit the right notes, there is no way they can fail. All they need is a release of meaningful collaborations and excellent marketing, the rest is up to sneakerheads to realise once again how cool Puma is as a brand. I do however realise this is easier said than done. With the support of his english fanbase alone, I think the people are more than ready to back him on yet another venture. Here’s hoping Puma’s new deal with Big Smoke Corp is a success for everyone involved and we get great products as a result.

Shoes

Which pair of shoes would I take for a grand adventure?

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“My shoes, damn fool that I am, were Mexican huaraches, plantlike sieves not fit for the rainy night of America and the raw road night.”

– On the Road page 12

“Montana Slim turned to me, pointed at my shoes, and commented, ‘You reckon if you put them things in the ground something’ll grow up?’ – without cracking a smile, of course, and the other boys heard him and laughed. And they were the silliest shoes in America; I brought them along specifically because I didn’t want my feet to sweat in the hot road, and except for the rain in Bear Mountain they proved to be the best possible shoes for my journey. So I laughed with them. And the shoes were pretty ragged by now, the bits of colored leather sticking up like pieces of a fresh pineapple and my toes showing through.”

On the Road page 27

These two quotes I highlighted when reading Jack Kerouac’s On the Road because it raised an interesting point; what shoes would you take on a huge road trip? An easy question at first but ultimately an important one. When I recently went to Peru back in the beginning of this year I ended up taking 3 pairs. The Solomon Speedcross 4 Gore tex’s for hikes, Nike Air Max Deluxe’s for getting about the cities and some LA Sportiva Approach shoes for any muddy terrain. The shoes I ended up undoubtably wearing the most were my La Sportiva’s because they were simply the most comfortable. Had I only been able to take one pair, I would have probably opted for the Deluxe’s simply for the fact that they would look good when looking back at any photos from the trip. In hindsight, what we wear on foot should be first and foremost comfortable.

With the recent knowledge I have gathered about minimal footwear and the benefits it has for the body, I would definitely consider a pair of Mexican Huaraches myself. Like the experience of the main protagonist, I would no doubt be the brunt of some jokes, but ultimately avoiding injuries by being more balanced would give me the last laugh. Not to mention I’d end up with some funky tan lines. It’d have my foot looking like that ridiculous foot tattoo that guy had of a Nike TN.

Shoes

Nike Server’s & Vibram’s – ‘Repair If You Care’ Event

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My friend Max once wore his Air Max 95 ‘Chilis’ into work. They hadn’t been worn for a while, so unfortunately like a lot of older Nike shoes, they began to crumble. Scraping away the left foot’s midsole into the bin, he looked at them with a sense of loss. He was about to throw them away till I asked, “Can I have them if you’re just going to chuck them?” to which he replied, “Yeah sound”. A standard reply in the halls of shoe retail.

I had them tucked away in my cupboard in a JD string bag, hoping I could do a sole swap when I had the time. I took them back home a few months later, tinkering with them in the shed. I managed to get some more of the midsole off, but the shoe still looked worse-for-wear. They took a place next to my Air Max 2003s which I had bought off Depop back in 2016. They too had suffered the same fate as they started falling apart when I was at the gym. There they sat, two Nike shoes out of action. Hunched over on the benches, awaiting the day where the Coach would call them back into play. I hadn’t had much experience with shoe restoration, having partly reglued the soles of a pair of Jordan 14’s and a pair of Ice Cream Boardflip 2’s that I de-soled and took down to the local cobbler. I could manage the removal part of process, yet needed to improve my fixing portion. Quite metaphorical if I do say so myself, luckily this short piece is about shoes and not a tell-all though.  

I was scrolling my IG feed when I had seen Nike Server doing an event at the Vibram London Academy. It sounded perfect, an opportunity to bring back to life two previously retired Nikes. The sustainability hashtags were about to go off. It was a three-day event running from the Thursday till the Saturday and having the time to kill, I went up on the first day.

This was a pair I’d never seen before. Someone told me the name but annoyingly I can’t remember!
Selection of shoes for repair on the first day of the event. Peep the waffle’s in that OG colourway

Arriving at Waterloo, I then grabbed the tube to Old Street. It wasn’t a part of London I was familiar with having never spent a night dancing my socks off at XOYO, so thank goodness for 21st century tech. I arrived at the shop where it seemed relatively busy. I whipped out the shoes and began discussing with Mr Nike Server himself which midsoles would work best with which shoe. I opted with going for the larger yellow midsole for the Chilis, thinking the contrasting yellow and red would work well. Then for the 2003s, I went for a slightly less in-your-face cup soles in order to cover up the glue markings. Having not realised that the shoes would be fixed and ready to go the same day, I handed the shoes over to the team behind the counter. It cost £45 a pair which I thought was reasonably and would eventually go onto find out was a solid price compared to the usual £70 for a midsole repair. You can’t put a price on sustainability though, right?

“Should be about 6 weeks mate”, the London-sounding Vibram cobbler announced as the payment went through. I walked out the shop, two shoes down but eager to see what the result would be. It wouldn’t be till around 7 weeks later that I would find out. Having followed the Vibram London Academy on IG I did get a glimpse at my pair of Air Max 2003’s as it had been uploaded with a selection of other shoes. A few days later I received a text saying:

I headed up the Wednesday, feeling like I was about to be reunited with an old flame. Sad? Possibly but being into creps isn’t always glitz and glamour, more time it’s just a bunch of people who are enthusiastic about a piece of cloth glued to rubber. If you really want to boil it down to its essence, but where’s the romance in that. I thought of it more as two pieces of iconic design, hidden in the shadows awaiting the day to once again rest between foot and concrete, roaming the streets of this diverse, beautiful world.

The selection of Five Fingers in store

As I made it back to Old Street Tube station, my phone remained in pocket as I was now more familiar with the area. It was humidly-hot that day, the London streets bright and colourful with an array of sun dresses coupled with shades. Seeing the yellow Vibram store logo up ahead, I was merely few steps away from finally seeing the shoes in person. As I stepped in, the team seemed to be in better spirits this time. Perhaps it was the combination of the blue skies and the fact they weren’t swamped with youths bringing in their beaten-up trainers. They received a total of 94 pairs from that event if I remember correctly. That’s a lot of new hybrid Vibram’s walking about the pavements and a whole lot more shoes rescued from landfill. That works out to about 30 odd pairs each day during the event, that’s no small feat.

the 95 Hybrid’s fresh out the shop
The shoe sits perfectly on the rolling gait midsole

Whilst they looked for my two pairs, I took a browse at their Five Finger selection. I’d been looking at getting a pair of minimal footwear since hearing about the barefoot running movement a year before. What better time to try a pair on than in the London store itself. I tried a selection on making sure that they fit correctly. Putting on the V-train 2.0s after the more minimal indoor/gym iteration, I knew this one would last a whole lot longer due to the heavier tread pattern and more rugged upper. This would also leave the door open for any possible future trail runs. They were a long step away from my Salomon Speedcross 4’s, but would be a great way of building up foot and ankle strength.

my bad boy five fingers that keep low to the ground but that ground feel high

Having now worn them for a week at the gym, I can truly say these have been one of, if not my best gym shoe to date. No longer do I have to walk around in my socks or some overly cushioned trainers. Ground-feel is what everyone should be after when weight training at the gym and these certainly provide enough of that. As someone who’s into creps, it also veers round the issue of having to wear your gym shoes on the journey to, as the five fingers are easily packable. If only I had known this a few years ago, it would have saved me spending half of my retail life walking around in my Pegasus 38 Gore-Tex editions. A great shoe however, one that deserved some rest from my average 13K steps a day.

Overall, the event and the shoes were a success. I ended up with two unique Nike trainers and a pair of minimal footwear shoes. Collecting the shoes also gave me a reason to travel on the Elizabeth line which was great experience in and of itself. If you know me, I’m all about good experiences. Would I recommend the re-soling process to a friend, most definitely!

The 95 in the Elizabeth Line tube tunnel
The new Elizabeth seat design providing a great backdrop to highlight the 03’s
Shoes

Nike Air Max Deluxe – The One That Got Away

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The Air Max Deluxe released back in 2018 to mixed reviews. I was working at the Size? store in Bristol at the time, and therefore witnessed this reception first hand. I remember seeing them on shelves thinking they were a decent looking shoe. Not having seen them before, I was intrigued by the shoes unique upper. I was sold by the interesting “oil spill” colourways but was put off by the £160 price point. At the time the Nike Vapormax Plus were flying off the shelves. Although they were £170, we could barely keep enough stock and were no doubt our bestselling shoe. I wasn’t the biggest fan of them myself, the Vapormax line had been a cool concept to start off with but practically speaking, the sole didn’t feel stable enough for me. Whilst an impressive feat of technology, they were more of a gimmick in my eyes. That’s just my opinion though, I have spoken to a few people who have used them as their daily running shoe.

Nike Vapourmax Plus

For the most part, I watched the Deluxe’s sit on shelves. They sold steadily, but it wasn’t till they went on sale that they really started to pick up. I would glance over at them every day, tempted by the loud colourways. The blue, white and orange pair had really spoken to me, two of my favourite colours on one shoe, it was a no-brainer. I went up to the stockroom on my lunchbreak and luckily we had one pair of UK12s. I put them on and to my dismay, they felt awkward. The two little nubs on the back of the inner heal didn’t bode well with me and the upper seemed stiff. Unimpressed, I placed them back on the shelf and left behind the thought of owning a pair.

Days later, the love for them had still lingered. Each shift I’d find myself picking them up off the sale rack. “Give them another chance” I thought as if they were a past lover … after all, beauty is pain. That week they did garner quite a lot of attention, they seemed to be the favourite colourway after the black and iridescent joints. Every time a customer would ask to try them on, I would breathe a sigh of relief when they didn’t say UK12. That was until my luck ran out. I had a gentleman in his late 30s come up to me, an unexpected choice for such a customer but a solid one nonetheless. He’d asked for a size 12 and my heart sank. As I climbed up the stairs and into the stockroom, I convinced myself that there was no chance he would actually go through with buying them. No way. Impossible. I brought them down where he tried on the left foot, took a few steps and looked at his wife. He said, “yeah these are good, I think I’ll take them”. I looked back at him smiling through the pain.

Convinced he was going to bale last minute; I took them up to the till and watched the transaction being put through. I needed to see for myself that the pair was gone, like some form of therapy. My colleague bagged them up, he knew I had been mulling over that pair for some time so had a little smile on his face. The Deluxe’s eventually left the store never to be seen again. A few months later the “No Sleep on Tour” Skepta collaboration came out, but it just wasn’t the same.

Nike Air Max Dealuxe x Skepta “No Sleep On Tour”

A whole year later and the World was a very different place. We were about a month and a half into lockdown and it had been time since I had bought any shoes. Having more time to browse, it was hard not to find steals as people were worried and letting pairs go for cheap. I came across the Deluxe’s in the fabled colourway for £60. They were practically new, so it was an easy decision. A few days later the Post man knocked. It had been a long time coming. I smiled and grabbed the delivery off the floor. Taking them into my room I carefully opened the package, seeing those blue lines shimmer through the slit I just created. I ripped the package open, hoisting the shoe up into the air like Gollum holding the ring in the fiery pits of Mount Doom. They were mine, my own, my precious… Nah, I’m kidding but I was certainly gassed.

Accurate portrayal of me finally owning a pair of those blue and orange Air Max Deluxe’s

It was sunny day, so I whacked them on ignoring my already questionable lockdown outfit. They were comfier than I expected. They must have just needed some time to break them in. “I must thank the previous user via the Depop review” I thought to myself. Since then, they heavily featured in the rotation as they coupled well with the baggy Calvin Klein denim I had found on eBay that same month.

I now vowed to try and pick up any Air Max Deluxe I come across that goes for less than £50. Like some budget version of Thanos collecting the infinity stones. Currently, I sit on two pairs of the blue and orange colourway, as well as the ‘Midnight Navy’ pair that I picked up last week. I recently was watching the Complex Sneaker Podcast where one of the hosts Brendan Dunne, was of the opinion that they did in fact flop. With the US being less of an Air Max market than the UK and Europe, I can imagine him being correct. The Deluxe managed to do well for a first-time reissue, certainly grabbing an entirely new audience that ended up loving this lesser-known Silhouette.

@toni_brugnoli making the Deluxe’s look good.

I don’t see them about too much anymore, most of them having been mashed up by the festival circuit the same year they were purchased. No longer do they traverse the pavements of Manchester or anywhere else for that matter. I don’t that mind that though, in fact I almost prefer it. I’ll keep wearing my pair, feeling happy whenever I look down at them wrapped around my feet.

Me on that fateful day.
Shoes

The Nike Court Tradition BRS – a Forgotten Silhouette

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It’s 2010. Mackenzie tracksuit tops are big on the school playground. Guys are using those small Nike string bags at school. Those ridiculously small Nike bookbags or also everywhere, as AJ Tracey confirms in his song Provisional License, “Old school I had the tiniest Nike backpacks, all of my books them bent up”. He’s not lying, everyone I knew who used those also had the most mashed up books. Another big memory from back then was the Superdry jackets that had about 50 zips on them. Guys would have them zipped up halfway with the most questionable gelled up hair. Thank goodness for Virgil and Kanye who made it their goal to “raise the overall taste level of the world”. However, my first example of their ‘improved taste level’ was in the form of the shutter shades Kanye used to wear. I came across them in Primark and bought a yellow pair which in hindsight, looked ridiculous.

I suppose for most, your pre and early teens are an awkward stage. People have just stopped being dressed by their parents, so they need to figure out what clothes means to them. It’s a journey to say the least. One piece I look back on with pride, are my Nike Court Tradition 2’s. A pair I in fact recently picked up off eBay for cheap. People have been sleeping on them and let it stay that way. Anyway, my mate and his older brother had a pair. They were the football Coaches kids which already put them on a higher level of cool, at least in my eyes. Having said that, the Coach would without a doubt, wear a pair of these Lonsdale shoes to every practice. What’s worse is, he always pulled them off. The drip was relentless. That’s how I remember it but memory can be a funny thing.

Every time we’d go about town, my mates would be wearing their pair of BRS’. They had the Velcro editions and I’d be glimpsing down at their feet, completely jealous. It took me a while, but after some nagging, I managed to convince my mum to get me a pair. We headed down to the local Sports Direct where I would often window shop. There was an array of DC and Airwalk shoes on wall racks as usual, but I wasn’t after that. I went over to the scary Store Manager to ask if I could try a pair on in my size. He always had a crazy look in his eye, like he would just go off at you if you rubbed him the wrong way. Whenever I’d walk in, there was always a 50% chance that he’d be shouting about something or someone. Hope he’s doing better these days. Luckily, he was in a good mood that day because next thing you know, I was trying on a pair of size 9’s. I went for an all-black pair with laces. The first three eyelets were different neon colours which I thought gave them a nice pop. My mum wouldn’t let me near the Velcro pairs that my mates had in fear that I’d turn into a degenerate. Parents have a funny way of thinking sometimes. I walked out 5 minutes later with a fresh pair in a brown Nike Box (a feeling I truly miss) in my massive Sport Direct bag. Mission success.

The only pair of BRS’ I could find with the different coloured eyelets. My pair was similar but with neon colours.

Since they were a general release and had a cheap retail price, the leather on them was of low quality. This worked out well for me as they had plenty of miles put into them and never creased too badly. The shape of them was excellent and the embroidered outline on the swoosh was a beautiful detail. I really loved my pair and had some fond memories in them. There was this one time I got pushed over by some guy outside my local Newsagents whilst wearing them. However, I was off balance to begin with so it’s not like I could blame the lack of traction on the soles. Bar that one terrible memory, all of them consists of good times and sunshine. I look forward to adding some more positive feelings to the pair I recently picked up off eBay. The Nike Court Tradition 2 is a shoe that I feel a lot of people have a past with, but one that no one really talks about. Viva la Nike BRS!

These were a cold pair that I always had my eye on. The neon eyelet and the 3M heal tab was something else!

[Upon finishing writing this, I may have actaully had the pair above with 3M hit on the back. I feel like I used to want to have the back of my shoe on show for some reason and that seems more than fitting. If that is the case then these were the building blocks that made up my love for the Air Max 95 Neons]

Shoes

My First and Accidental Sneaker Double Up

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The double up. A classic move in the world of Sneaker Heads. One that really cements your place as a shoe fanatic. That is unless you’re a reseller, in which case you’re just greedy, or as some may say, ‘entrepreneurial’. My first double up was a mistake. Although to this day, I still have the two shoes in my collection. Partly because no one else will probably buy them off me, but also because they hold a dear place in my heart. Let’s go with option two, it sounds better. Anyway, the first the shoe I doubled up on was the HUF x Wu Tang’s from 2014. I remember seeing them online as part of a collection pack with some clothing bits and socks, none of which I picked up apart from the creps.

I think at that point, I was aware of the Wu Tang Dunks, so I knew what having the “W” on the side of the shoe meant. I’d watched a review on them from OG Sneaker Youtuber. It was the guy with the see-through plate that spun round 360 degrees and the intro had a voice clip saying, “I’m an addict to Sneakers”. I’ve linked the video below so you can relive what I felt all those years ago.

When I first saw the £125 price point, I was in shock. That was steep for me back then. No way was I getting the go ahead on these from my Mum. I knew it was a case of biding my time and waiting for the right price. A month or two had gone by and they had sold out of all the online retailers I was aware of. I didn’t really use eBay too much back then apart from researching how much certain collectable figurines were. I managed to find a seller out in the US who was selling a few sizes from his account. They looked legit and for a total of £82, I was willing to take the risk. I ordered them. The first time I had ever ordered something like that from America. How long it’d take for them to arrive I wondered. The awaited time in my purchased items section had said two weeks. That was manageable. Every day after I finished school, I’d rush home to check the status of the shoes. The journey itself was exciting. Until that is, the day they hit the UK. Somehow, they’d got shipped up North by Royal Mail. They had ended up in some apartment building where a lady had signed for them. I spent days with the seller trying to get more information but got nowhere. That was it. All that excitement for nothing. They were gone, never to be seen again.

Upset about the loss I had just taken, I decided to move on. The dream of getting the HUF x Wu Tang’s was over and I just needed to accept it. A few shoes had been purchased since to try and fill the void in my heart, but the gap was still there. I was in college now, over half a year later, sitting in the canteen during my lunch break I decided to browse the Route One website on my iPhone 4. I was scrolling the sale page much like I used to do. Then I saw it. The HUF x Wu Tang’s for £25. I couldn’t believe my eyes. I kept saying “Oh my gosh no way” to the point my friends started to get concerned. Little did they know they were witnessing a Sneaker Head during his finest moments. They were witnessing the art of ‘the steal’. I didn’t have time to explain to anyone what was going on, so I added them to my basket and checked out as quick as I could. Thirty seconds passed and boom, the confirmation email came through. I can even remember feeling that now. Top 10 college moments that. A week later they arrived at my house and I was gassed. I wore them round the house for a few days, pouring over the different details on the shoe. The wait was over. They were mine.

About a month later I was watching TV on the couch at home. I remember it still being warm and light out after arriving back from college, so it must have been at the end of summer. Either way it was a late delivery from the post man. A near five o’clock delivery is a rare occurrence, but a welcomed one. I was confused when the package arrived as it was directed to me, and I wasn’t expecting anything. I looked over the different labels to see an array of different notes on the box. One thing I did know was that it had come from the US. Still confused, I opened it up. It was only till I saw the light green HUF shoe box that I finally realised what they were. No way … it couldn’t be? Over half a year had gone by and I hadn’t heard anything about the shoes I had ordered from America. Yet there they were. They had finally managed to make their way to me. I could barely believe it. Eager to make sure they weren’t fake; I took them upstairs to compare them to my Route One pair. They were good. I didn’t want to confuse which pair they were, so I labelled the inside of the box, “Pair 1” and “Pair 2”.

Today they both sit in my collection upstairs. The Route One pair I took to Uni but never put any serious miles on them. In fact, both are still in close to deadstock condition and in serious need of love and wear. I think they still look sleek and with a pair of baggy denim shrouding them, I could definitely make them work. The only thing that gives away their age is the speckled midsole and perhaps for the eager-eyed Wu Tang fan, the “20th Anniversary of 36 Chambers” label on the tongue. I don’t think I’d get rid of either of these shoes because of the sentimental value they hold, but also for the fact that they have Wu logo on the side of the shoe. Priceless.

Shoes

Top 5 Reebok x Garbstore Collaborations

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Reebok was churning out a whole host of collaborations between 2013-2016. One independent store who had a unique take on their coveted silhouettes were Garbstore. A British retailer based in the Notting Hill area of London that stocks a selection of staple clothing with an Americana twist. As described on the website in reference to the Reeboks’, they write:

“London-based designer Ian Paley takes his main reference point from the “unseen” elements of the original Reebok classics. Each collection between the two brands is a graduation from the last. Through their collaboration together, archived models such as the Fury Roads, Aztecs and Pump Graphlite have been brought back in revitalised fabrics and colourways.”

I would agree with this statement, as they really did focus on the smaller details when it came to their collections. In many ways the store’s collaborations were quite forward thinking. A lot of the reverse elements and subtle twists on key features of the shoe are ones we now see quite a lot in the market today. As far seeing them on feet out in the real world, it didn’t happen too often. I only remember seeing someone wearing a pair once. They often went on sale, especially in a UK12, or ended up on eBay from random wholesaler. I had the navy Club C pair which was based on the lines of a tennis court. I picked them up for £40 including shipping off the Garbstore website and was ecstatic as I’d had my eyes on them for a while. I did put quite a lot of miles on them as a shoe, to the point where they got cooked as my night out shoes. I owe it to this pair of Reeboks, as they helped me fall in love with the Club C silhouette. Sadly, they’re no longer part of my collection as I was downsizing, and I let them fly on Depop for cheap.

  1. Reebok x Garbstore Club C

I’m biased when it comes to these as its the only Garbstore shoe I actually owned. The navy and white upper tells a beautiful story behind its Tennis Court influence, whilst the brown lace guard and tongue are what brings that shoe into the top tiers for me. The toe box ended up creasing nicely and really did show its wear off in a elegent way.

2. Reebok x GarbStore GS Workout “Outside In”

Such a classy take on the workout. That almost fine wine gum bottom really sets a great base for the shoe to be built on. The mixture of purple and pinks against that prodominantly cream upper is what truly makes this shoe great. I have had a pair of these on my eBay wishlist for about 4 years now and it might be the time to finally pull the trigger.

3. Reebok x Garbstore Classic

Probably the first shoe on the list that I wish I owned. You simply cannot go wrong with a Reebok Classic as a shilouette. The little detailing of the Reebok lettering in which the last two letters “ok”, are the tid bits that reveal that this isn’t just some normal reebok. The almost Collegiate upper, mixing that wonderful navy and light blue, is just so simple yet effective. Of course what completes this shoes overall quality is its nappy suede upper. You can even tell from the upper that the quality on these are on point. These are a serious contender for my favourite Reebok Classic ever.

4. Reebok x Garbstore Ventilator Supreme

The shape on these are the main reason why I chose them for fourth place. Something Air Max 90 heads would be very keen on with its pointy toe box. I also quite like that purple mudguard that wraps around the shoe. Whilst the colourway doesn’t completely work in my eyes, these are definitely a pair I’d wear.

5. Reebok x Garbstore

The colour way on these immaculate. That earthy brown works wonderfully next to that grey and green. My 2014 self was a sucker for that Hexalite logo as well so you know I would have been all over these. The speckled midsole on these a clear sign that they were released during that 2014-16 speckled era.

Shoes

My Questionable College Shoe Rotation

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It’s safe to say my college rotation wasn’t the best. Nor was it the worst by any means. Oh and when I say College I mean ‘high school’, the two years of education before University. Just in case we have any American Readers. Having only fully started getting into sneakers the summer before starting college, there was a lot of learning to do. I remember wearing my Vans Old Skools for a large portion of the first year. They were on the brink of being too small but because of the simple colourway, they were easy to wear.

Vans Old Skool

I then moved finally gained the courage to wear my Reebok x Palace’s. I managed to get the last UK12 that summer off of END clothing. An extremely lucky find. These got a lot of complements throughout their use. A great shoe to this day. I really put the miles on them and eventually ended up having to retire them after X-Fest in summer 2016. A good 3 year run to the point where the Triferg logo started fading off the back of the heel.

Reebok x Palace

Then onto second year. I found a love for Reebok after the Palaces gave me a good run and many a compliment. I found a cheap pair of black Ventilators off Buttery Store, a site which has now closed, I think they were £40 quid. They fit half a size big and upon reflection, was not the best Reebok shoe I could have chosen out of their line-up. Somehow, I ended up missing the Workouts, Revenges and even the Club C, a novice mistake. I think I was fond of the little window at the bottom of the shoe which let you see the Hexalite midsole technology. I did end up picking up another Reebok Ventilator after this stupidly. The Reebok x Major DC shoes, which had a detailed pink 3M toe box with an iced out sole that had a blossom tree underneath it. I was a huge fan of the blossom tree under foot however I haven’t worn them to this day. They have literally sat at the bottom of my cupboard since 2014. The Ventilator did end up going on to get some love with Kendrick Lamar doing his first collaboration project on that silhouette. A few years prior to that you had shoe stores like SNS and Hanon doing their own renditions through collaborations. So I guess my love for the model in hindsight was justified.

Reebok Venitalator

I actually ended up swapping these for the week with my mate at college. He was the only other UK12 I knew and had picked up a pair of Nike Trainerendors back when they had ACG on the tongue and not Nike SB. By that point he had mashed up his pair as well, so it was a relatively fair trade. I came out on top as the Nikes were a lot comfier than the Hexalite technology. Not to mention the mesh toe box on the Reeboks was pretty chewed up by that point. Come to think of it, I’m not sure why he did swap, probably because he thought he fancied some change in his life. It’s the little things in life as they say.

NIke Trainerendors

I managed to find a cheap pair of Adidas ZX Flux’s for sale on their website for something ridiculous, like £28. It was a UK12.5 and was made up of a single Tree-camo upper. This was back when adidas had a good thing going with their ZX line. I remember there being a lot of buzz for the iridescent pairs.

Adidas ZX Flux ‘Iridescent’

Adidas at the time were also doing at ‘create your own’ ZX section on their website where people could upload a photo for their upper. I remember people trying to get away with jokes designs and some pretty non-PG photos. Clearly, they’d found a loophole in the system. Kind of like how Barclays did those custom Bank cards. All I used to see on The Basement were people with Bape Camo cards, I was almost convinced to create one myself. Having been to a Flux Pavillion concert Shepards Bush a few years prior to having these, I did knickname them the Flux Pavillion’s … I don’t know what I was thinking. On a side note, what actually happened to the guy?

NIke ZX Flux ‘Tree Camo’

I have literally had my ZX Flux’s up on my Depop account since the summer of 2016 and no one has bought them. That’s a total of 6 years. They’re even up for £18 all in now and they still haven’t budged. I suppose that’s more of an indication on peoples view of how these aged.

The last edition to my college rotation was a pair of black Eric Koston 2’s with a gum bottom. These got equally as mashed as the Ventilators in the end and probably got more use than any shoes on the list. If I were to rank these, I would definitely place these as a close second to the Reebok x Palace’s. At the time the Koston Air Max’s were everywhere. I even had two of my mates arguing about “who got theirs first”. They had both got the Black pair with the white mid-sole colourway, the only difference was one has a mesh upper and the other was canvas. I remember them looking to me to ask which pair had come out first to which I just laughed. I couldn’t be bothered with the silly argument, sitting there feeling superior in my Koston 2’s. Whilst I don’t think the silhouette aged too well, I still think it’s a Nike shoe that garners respect.

NIke Eric Koston 2

Overall, my rotation definitely was not the best out there. It consisted mostly of General release shoes that had hit the sale racks. I knew of the Jordan 11s gamma blues that released in 2013 but at the time, shoes that price were just way too expensive for me. I did manage to get a pair of Columbia 11s though in my second year of college, but they never got worn. I wasn’t brave enough at the time and my jeans weren’t baggy enough to sit on them correctly, so they’d end up looking like boats. I did amass a decent collection but as far as the ones that got worn, well those you already know about. Looking back, my shoe knowledge and rotation has vastly improved but it’s all part of the experience. You just have to look back and smile!

Shoes

4 Skate Shoes That AREN’T Nike Dunks

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Here’s a Nike shoe I’ve never seen before. Whilst browsing the eBay for “Eric Koston” shoes I came across a load of hip skate shoes. A lot of them were from his Es and Osiris period, however there were a few I’d never seen before. Below I have chosen a few cool ones that I came across and yes, they are in fact for sale. What a wonderful world we live in.

I have put the links to buy them after each description but depending on when you read this article, they may have unfortunately sold out.

  1. The Nike Air Zoom E-Cue

These are a pair I have never seen before in all my years of browsing. It’s always an enjoyable moment when you come across a pair that are completely alien to you. I do think they’re an interesting looking shoe, reminding me of my Air Rejuven8 pair I wrote about in an earlier blog. The upper is comparable to the Nike Air Kukini’s with its melded rubber cage upper and mesh underneath. These were a far cry from your usual skate shoes that were releasing back in 2004, mainly because they were not being predominantly made up of a canvas upper. Yet the rubber-cage would have been able to withstand a lot of wear. The zoom units themselves are not located in the midsole like you would expect, but in fact embedded in the in-soles themselves. This was a useful feature because given that Zoom units do in fact pop after time, you as the customer would have been able to purchase another pair of insoles and the cushioning system would literally have been good-as-new. Another shoe that uses the cushioning technology in the in-sole rather than the midsole was the Nike Air Vis Propensity, which did in fact place the air unit itself (crazy right) in the in-sole, with a little viewing window at the bottom of the shoe.

I would not be surprised if the Kobe 6s took some inspiration from the Air Zoom E-Cue. Just to double check my intuition, I Googled who designed both shoes and in fact, it WAS the same designer! Eric Avar was responsible for designing the Kobe 6 in 2011 and the Nike Air Zoom E-Cue back in 2003/04. Not only was the silhouette very closely related but the idea of a heavily textured upper was too much of a coincidence. The use of Zoom technology in both shoes also confirmed my suspicions.

You can purchase them here

NIke Kobe 6

2. Poynter Skate Shoes

I have never heard of this Skate brand before, let alone seen this model. I am a fan though, from the Air Max 95 lacing system, the mudguard, and the gradient colourway, what’s not to like? The Midsole is a little questionable as it doesn’t look entirely functional for the activity it is built for. The narrow heel on the back does not bode well for landing on and looks a bit unstable. I see hints to the Adidas Training PT with the circular design integrated into the midsole. This particular gradient colourway reminds me of the rare Air Max BW/TN hybrid you occasionally see pop up on your Instagram feed from a real Nike Head.

You can purchase them here

Adidas Training PT
Nike Air Max BW/TN

3. Aeon Skate Shoes

I believe I may have come across this brand before, but I am not totally sure. Maybe I’m just getting confused with the saying “Eons Ago”. Who knows? I have definitely not seen these pair before though. I see influences from Osiris D3 in the vent like circles you can find on the mudguard and toe box. The little strap and top eyelet holder is also quite a cool feature. I’m unsure if these are pre-Nike Flywire so could have had a part in influencing that. I question the overall practicality of this feature, as in this case it does look a little gimmicky. How much extra pull or tightness around the upper can you really gain from one eyelet after all? The biggest comparison and first shoe that sprung to mind upon seeing this was the Jordan 14. Those ridges upon the white panel really draw closely on the iconic side profile of the 14. Overall, I’m not too enticed by the colourway, but I could 100% see myself rocking a pair of these. Some baggy denim or cargos sitting on top of pair like this would do very nicely.

You can purchase them here


4. Savier Staba Skate Shoes

The heel tab branding looks very similar to the Satta logo but apart from that nothing really sprung to mind at first. An interesting shoe to say the least, but I’m not sure that these would get much wear out of me. After a while I finally started seeing what era it was being inspired by. The eBay seller states that he thinks these came about in 2001 which would make a whole lot of sense. The chunky low top feel of this shoe initially reminded me of the Jordan 15. However, it was more closely linked to the designs of the Jordan 16 and 17. That use of hard plastic to create a techy component feel to this shoe was a large design movement in the early 2000s. You can see this throughout a lot of footwear at the time. The start of the new millennium had every designer focusing on “the future” and their take on whatever that would be. Another shoe that uses that tries to reach for that forward thinking feel was the Adidas Kobe 2. That was my best comparison I came up with and a very apt one at that in my opinion.

You can purchase them here

Adidas Kobe 2
Jordan 15

Check out this solid read on the History of Skate Shoes by Sneaker Freaker.