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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.

Miscelanious, Shoes

Manchester Through The Sony Ericcson Cybershot (2006)

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I bought an old Sony Ericcson Cyber-Shot off of Depop in the first Lockdown. The Phone arrived and it felt very nostalgic. My cousin in Peru used to have one. I remember he had Cristiano Ronaldo as his background. He was a big football fan. I bought it so I could use an old mobile phone to stay in contact with people if they needed to reach me without all the hassle of other apps constantly sending me notifications. Turning the phone on, I realised that you needed a SIM card for it to work. This led to me umming and arring for over a year, letting the phone gather dust. One day I finally went into an EE shop asking about a getting a pay-as-you-go SIM card. The lady said they didn’t offer that service anymore and that I could pick one up from Poundland. She was right. £1 later, I had a SIM card ready to pop into my old Sony Ericson. A waited over a year for that. You don’t ask, you don’t get.

I later then discovered the novelty of the camera’s phone. Marketing back in the day surrounded the idea that this mobile was in fact as good as your point and shoot. Boasting a solid 3.2 megapixels, I decided to give it a crack. So here are some shots I took up whilst back in Manchester.

Shoes

Sneaker Stories – Getting Pied in P-Rod’s

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I remember really wanting a pair of Paul Rodriquez’s 8th Nike shoe. That was back in 2014 when I was rocking the Koston 2’s. A staple in my college shoe rotation. My black pair with the gum bottom truly got mashed up. I remember seeing the 8’s on skate websites and loving the silhouette. They were sleek and techy. The upper was something off a football boot and coupled with the ridges of the Lunarlon midsole, they just looked sharp! Not to mention the sole itself which had a heat map of your feet’s pressure points. I was sold. The blue and black colourway was the first to come out which I wasn’t too keen on. I had to bide my time for the right colourway to come about which it did, the Shield edition.

The orange hits with the 3M detailing, it was me all over. I waited and waited for a UK12 to go on sale but alas, I never found a pair. I eventually settled for the “Blackout” pair. It was simple but I was mainly in love with the design, so I wasn’t too bothered. I found a pair on a skate website going for about £75 which given the over £120 price point, wasn’t too shabby.  

They arrived and went straight on feet. I was moving to Bristol soon for university later that year and they were coming with me. Whilst I loved the look of them on-feet, I struggled fitting them with my then – trouser situation. In 2015 I was donning the finest Zara jeans that weren’t spray on skinny by any means but weren’t baggy either. The cheeky Nando’s vibes were certainly a lot stronger back then, that’s for sure. Having big feet also meant that trousers would certainly make a difference in creating a smaller looking shoe. Nevertheless, they got their fair share of wear (that rhymes) because of their simple colourway.

It was fresher’s week (lads, lads, lads) and there was an 80’s themed dress night at a club down the road. The club was fairly – big so a large portion of potential future Uni mates would be there. I struggled finding an outfit at first, finally settling on my classic blue Zara jeans, a Puma top that I had bought for the gym and my P-Rod’s. The top was a dark blue with a neon-pink Puma logo which I clearly thought, “yeah, 80s that”. Just in case my outfit legitimacy was questioned, I rolled up my trousers to reveal my white Nike tube socks. I was unquestionably 80’s at that point, the night was mine.

We arrived at the club after a 45 second walk. It was busy and the queue was large. I made it to the front where I remember the bouncer giving me a strange look. I thought he was eyeing me up as a potential aggressive youth, a troublemaker, so I just smiled when he handed back my ID. In hindsight, I should have taken that as a signal to go home and save my nostalgic outfit for another night. Alas, I continued on into the depths of the club.

Hire SWX Bristol – Eventopedia – Events Bristol

The people I was with hit the dancefloor. It was chart music galore. “Where was the 80s hits” I thought? It was then that I learnt that these Club night dress codes were a big sham, the naivety of my 18-year-old self. The group I was with formed a circle right at the front and started busting out their finest moves. I was cringing. This was not my thing. “I’m too cool for this”, I said to myself, neon-pink puma logo beaming from my chest. As the hours went on, there was luckily a decrease in the number of dance-off circles formed.

The end of the night was near and there weren’t as many people about. I had spotted a girl I recognised from a few towns over. She was dancing with her mate. Noticing I was getting a few glances, I slowly made my way over. There was a small space between the two groups now. I just needed to wait for the right moment. As I was closer, my outfit was consequently more visible. She glanced up and down, scanned the puma top and kept going. The top hadn’t put her off, so surely I had a chance. It was at that point that she noticed the combination of my white Nike socks and my all-black P-Rod’s. Her eyes stayed there for a few seconds. “ohh yeah, she knows her crep’s, lets go” I thought. I was wrong. Completely wrong. I’m not sure I recognised her facial expression, but I knew it wasn’t a good sign. Thinking back, it was somewhere between a grimace and a smirk. Seconds after she pulled that face, she whispered something to her mate and they both walked off. That was it. I had been pied. Never a fun moment for a man but it’s even worse when she’s put off by your shoes. It’s even more of a sour feeling when you consider yourself a sneaker head. After that night I stopped wearing the P-Rod’s for quite some time. They had betrayed me.

Granted they need a clean.

Since the summer of 2016, they have in fact been sat at the bottom of my cupboard. 6 years of imprisonment because of one failure. A harsh punishment, but apparently the price a shoe must pay for letting their wearer down. I can now say, as I am wearing the actual pair right now, that I have moved on. My P Rod’s  and I are ready to take on a whole host of new outfits this year. I have made peace with the memory and the crep’s themselves. Life moves on.

Upon finishing this story, I just remembered another tale where my crush laughed at my P-Rod 7’s on mufti day, perhaps I should stay clear after all…

Shoes

The Nike Air Fishnets? What’s this Shoe Called?

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The Nike “Fishnets”

I picked up this shoe from eBay the other day. It cost me £39.54 after shipping. It arrived at my house. No original box and therefore nameless. Like a lost puppy. Except this puppy was made to be stepped on. Alas, not my best comparison. I sent a picture to my other trainer enthusiast friend to which he replied “Terrible, Nike Fishnets is it?”. An unsurprisingly mocking reply. Yet I did admire the creativity. Eager to find out the name of these webs, I wasn’t going to settle for the Nike Fishnets.

I was surprised to see the production label reveal that they were made back in the early 2008. My memories of free run technology were based on the 2011-14 era. I am in fact indebted to the Free Run 4.0 Flyknit model, which somehow saved my foot from a rather nasty puncture back in 2016. Having just had another ingrown toenail operation that summer, I went back to my part time labouring job with a comfy pair of 4.0’s on feet. Whilst throwing away some wood onto the burn pile I clearly wasn’t wearing appropriate footwear, as twenty minutes later, I pulled out a 10 cm nail lodged between the gaps in my sole. I looked up to see the faces of the three gentlemen who I was working with at the time, “That’s why we wear work boots mate”, they said unimpressed. I haven’t gone back to labouring since.

Nike’s 2004 Zvezdochka

The Fishnets were too late in the 2000s to belong to the Alpha Project Line up too. There was undoubtably inspiration drawn from Nike’s 2004 Zvezdochka, a modular designed shoe made up of four distinct parts. This was during Nike’s early 2000s exploration into techy and sustainable design. Whilst they were similar, they were no where near as flashy or techy. The bottom of the shoe was Free Run-esque in terms of its tread, but lacked the large splits between the pods which was essential part of the “free” aspect of its design.  

The plastic toe on the shoe is taken straight from the Presto which is a more obvious comparison. The shoe would basically be a Presto had it not been for the cage which surrounds the soft upper. The closest comparison I can think of is the Nike Air Kukini. Another shoe in the Alpha Project range, combining a soft and caged upper for extra support much like the pair I got from eBay. The difference between the two is obviously the exposed air unit and the melding between the two types of upper. On a side note, the Air Kukini is rumoured to be getting a rerelease this year after originally coming out in 2000.

Nike Air Kukini – pic from Sneaker News

Luckily, I remembered the old trick of typing in the serial code into google. Within milliseconds I saw my shoe pop up on screen. The Nike Air Rejuven8. An article from Sneaker News containing my colourway came up on images. Nike Air Rejuven8 – Summer 2010 Colorways was the name of the post. Considering the shoe label stated these were made in the first quarter of 08 suggested production on these may have been slightly more complicated. I must have scrolled past the Rejuven8 name on a website back in the day as the name does not seem totally alien to me. Another successful find on eBay from a decade-old, under-the-radar silhouette, good times!

Now I have the name and the story, I can walk around in them with a less confusion. I no longer had to worry about a sneaker enthusiast striking up a conversation on the pair wrapped around my feet. Name or not, what doesn’t change is that they’re comfy and easy to slip on, a key design feature which came out of the cosy era of lockdown. You may catch me in these post hike as a recovery shoe or even roaming round the concrete streets of a city providing 2K Nike innovation vibes. The shoe itself does fit in today’s climate of parachute pants and overly-water-repellent youths, so count me in (although considering they are already mine, that was a given).

A not-so far cry from the 3D printed shoes of today, there are futuristic elements present within the Rejuven8. One comparison that comes to mind is the Zellerfeld shoe which is currently gaining a large fanbase. Both shoes have taken the traditional leather or synthetic upper and thrown it out the window, opting for a more breathable and ergonomic feel. The collab between Heron Preston and Zellerfeld is heading towards the right direction in terms of the sustainability and flipping the script on the traditional idea of the shoe. I would not be surprised the Nike Air Rejuven8 was up on the first set of mood boards for the Zellerfeld shoe, a passing of the baton in futuristic design.