Gabriel Filippa

Few shoes can rival the soaring global passport of the Clarks Originals Wallabee. Born in Killarney, Ireland, the Wallabee has been laced by Jamaican dancehall DJs, waxed lyrical by New York’s hip hop godfathers, and stomped inside the sticky, acid-house clubs of Manchester.

Brace yourself: this is the thumping sonic history of the Clarks Wallabee – a model inextricably tied to the story of beat-making.

The Clarks Wallabee was born in 1967. Originally inspired by a German moccasin known as ‘The Grasshopper’, Clarks acquired a licence to manufacture their own version, which became the legendary silhouette known today.

Manufactured with ultra-tasty-looking, cheese-like soles and idiosyncratic suede uppers, the Wallabee became a footwear wunderkind shortly after its inception. Beautifully bound with moccasin-stitched, rolled-edge vamps, the silhouette is still undoubtedly one of the most recognisable designs in the footwear industry.

Offering supreme comfort thanks to the naturally squishy, full-length crepe soles, the model does a sterling job of distributing weight across its entire surface. Above the sole, the Wallabee is manufactured in both low or boot-cut heights, making it roomy and forgiving enough for any type of foot.

Thankfully, it also hasn’t changed much since the 60s.

Despite occasional material overhauls, the silhouette has lost none of its inimitable shape or attitude over its half-a-century lifespan. Reborn in various guises, the Wallabee initially found a second home some 4500 miles across the North Atlantic Ocean in a city booming with Jamaican dancehall.

Nobody loves Clarks like Jamaica. Adopted by the rudeboys and rhapsodised by dancehall artists, classic models like the Wallabee became footwear with unassailable prestige in the island nation. Even a ban on foreign-made shoes throughout much of the 1970s couldn’t stop Clarks fever, with touring Jamaican musicians smuggling back piles of the revered shoes in their suitcases. Some even travelled to stores in the small village of Street in Somerset, where you could find ‘seconds’ (shoes with slight imperfections). For Clarks disciples, this was Mecca.

Back in the UK, British artists were also finding stylistic provocation in the Wallabee. In 1976, David Bowie and Iggy Pop hooked up for a tour to support the album Station to Station, with Bowie regularly lacing the model on and off the stage. Bowie also appeared on the classic television show Soul Train, ‘the hippest trip in America’, delivering a landmark performance in the beloved Wallabee.

Whether in Kingston clubs or stadium tours across Europe and North America, artists were beginning to find sartorial relevance in the unique characteristics of the Wallabee, and the volume was only going to get louder throughout the next decade.

The globe-trotting Clarks Wallabee began to appear in New York City’s booming, beat-making boroughs during the 1980s, thanks largely to the steady flow of Jamaican migrants bringing their rudeboy style.

Laced by up-and-coming rappers like Ghostface Killah, Raekwon and Slick Rick, the Wallabee helped establish hip hop’s style during its all-important formative years, and the model became an essential ingredient for the East Coast aesthetic.

With sneaker culture erupting in the 1980s, the Wallabee refused to get kicked to the curb, repeatedly rearing its head as a classy alternative. Immortalised by spitfire bars and the surging popularity of hip hop, the Wallabee was soon broadcast to the world.

It wasn’t just hip hop’s rising stars falling for crepe soles, either. Across the pond, Manchester’s legendary acid house scene (affectionately dubbed the ‘Second Summer of Love’) saw clusters of Wallabees stomp in abandoned warehouses, fields and immortal clubs like The Haçienda. Because you couldn’t wear trainers at the venues, the Wallabee became the obvious footwear of choice for bleary-eyed, nocturnal ravers, with the silhouette once again offering an appealing gateway between sneakers and more formal footwear.

Part of a subculture simmering from within Margaret Thatcher’s England, the Wallabee – like acid house – served as a canvas to express non-conformist attitudes. A notion that’s remained inextricably tied to the Clarks Wallabee.

The 1990s was another seismic decade for the Wallabee. In 1996, Ghostface Killah – the self-anointed ‘Wallabee Champ’ – released his classic debut album, Ironman. The LP cover art was replete with gaudy, colourful Wallabees that Ghostface dyed in preparation for the shoot. The album cover art now belongs to the aesthetic annals of East Coast rap, and it helped compose a hip-hop vernacular where the Wallabees stood front and centre.

Dedicating entire songs and even compilation LPs to his much-flaunted moniker, Ghostface became the poster boy for an entire hip hop movement consumed with Wallabee-mania. The Wu-Tang Clan, of course, stunted the Wallabee, while rap royalty Slick Rick, Run DMC, Notorious BIG and MF Doom would all jump on the rollicking bandwagon throughout the 1990s and early 2000s.

Clarks would even pay homage to the model’s deep New York City roots, with MF Doom receiving his own pair of custom New York Knicks-inspired Wallabees in the mid-90s.

In the UK, the Brits were again finding their own way of lauding their Somerset silhouette. With Britpop taking over the airwaves via the likes of Blur and Oasis, it was the lesser-known The Verve who really shined a light on the Clarks model.

Inspired by their love of psychedelic rock and Clarks, The Verve built on the legacy of their sartorial godfathers – the mods. The Wallabee graced the cover of their chart-topping Urban Hymns before appearing in the iconic music video for ‘Bitter Sweet Symphony’.

Clarks’ partnership with Futura in the 2000s kickstarted a blinding golden period for the Somerset label and their collaborative endeavours. Tapping a stalwart of the New York City graffiti scene, Futura produced a duo of Wallabees in the 2000s, and his colourful, paint-splattered sophomore iteration was no doubt the favourite among Wallabee aficionados.

The 2000s also saw the Wallabee ride shotgun with Walter White during his notorious rise to power in AMC’s Breaking Bad, becoming his footwear of choice despite the transformation from Mickey Mouse to Scarface. Later, BAIT paid homage to the legendary series by linking up with AMC for two unique Wallabee iterations – one referencing Heisenberg’s empire and the other inspired by the series’ bloody climax.

Let’s also not forget the rollicking, lumberjack-ready atmos collaboration that landed right before the close of the decade in 2009!

Collaborations were de rigueur for the footwear industry during the 2010s, and the Clarks Wallabee was enthusiastically stamping its global passport. Headlined by their duo of epic MF Doom collaborations in 2014, Clarks once again paid homage to East Coast hip hop with their Supreme link-up one year later.

Clarks continued to turn up the volume on the Wallabee’s flawless hip hop credentials throughout the decade – a watershed moment no doubt involving an official partnership with Wu-Tang’s Wu Wear to commemorate the 25th anniversary of 36 Chambers.

Still, it wasn’t just East Coast rappers lining up to remaster the Wallabee. Canadian rapper Drake and his OVO imprint sent Wallabee production to Italy with four handmade renditions, and the 6 God showed the kind of sophistication we’d love to see courtside!

Clarks didn’t take their foot off the accelerator upon entering the 2020s.

In fact, A Bathing Ape’s collaboration with Clarks in 2020 highlighted the shoe’s already stunning impact across the globe. Reflecting the growing popularity of the Wallabee in the fashion-centric districts of Harajuku and Shibuya, the model started the 2020s with a chest-thumping bang from the Ape. Showcased with a lookbook featuring England and Chelsea footballer Raheem Sterling (Clarks’ very first brand ambassador), the collaboration featured BAPE’s signature camouflage print – although this partnership did everything but blend in.

Later the same year, even rap royalty and Queens native Nas made an appearance for Aimé Leon Dore. And the quintessential NYC label knocked it out of the ballpark with four Wallabees manufactured using textured Casentino wool.

This year, we’ve also seen arguably some of the best renditions ever for the Wallabee. Between Bodega’s Autumn/Winter 2022 capsule, Jun Takahashi’s Undercover colab and in-house renditions like the Sashiko pack, the great footwear chameleon is still in phenomenal shape.

As well as stamping its real-world credentials, the Wallabee has also permeated the world of NFTs, linking up with Compound for a ‘Floor Seats’ collaboration (which features both a real shoe and an NFT component).

Inspired by a courtside NYC basketball experience and the Wallabee, Compound tapped BK the Artist (who recently developed Jadakiss’ last solo album artwork) to design a limited-run, animated NFT channelling 90s hip hop.

Launching at Art Basel in Miami this year, the collaboration is a vision of the future for the Clarks Wallabee – a model that’s never been afraid to challenge the status quo.

Does the Wallabee’s thumping sonic history strike a chord?

The seven-bubble bad boy of Nike’s celebrated Air Max family, the Air Max Plus (AKA TN) is still the sneaker kingpin Down Under.

Stomping onto the sneaker scene in the late 1990s, designer Sean McDowell’s serene vision of Florida’s beaches was interpreted in Australia as a perfect spray-paint fade, or strange, alien-like ribs. Encasing the beating heart of burgeoning sub-cultures, the TN quickly leapt from its performance origins to arguably become the most notorious member of the Air Max dynasty, its popularity exploding most notably across enclaves in Western Sydney and Melbourne.

Leading the TN charge for over two decades, Foot Locker’s retina-burning Aussie-exclusives emblazoned the path for its extraordinary success, the beloved Air Max Plus quickly becoming a runaway success in the region.

With the rumoured release of Foot Locker's Air Max Plus ‘Lava’ retro bubbling on the horizon, we thought we’d revisit the inflammable legacy of the Nike TN Down Under: the wild child of Nike’s royal Air Max bloodline.

The design ancestry of the baddest member of Nike’s Air Max family is, of course, anything but straight-forward. In 1997, Nike hired rookie designer Sean McDowell to work on the elusive ‘Sky Air’ project, a new running sneaker for Nike’s most important client: Foot Locker.

Little did McDowell know, his baptism was by fire.

Foot Locker had already rejected more than 15 proposals from Nike, the Manhattan footwear giant desperate to see Beaverton’s brand new cushioning system installed in an eye-catching silhouette. The technology was Tuned Air, a blow-moulded unit coupled with rubber hemispheres placed in the sole to provide support. A product of Nike’s moonshot design incubators in the 1990s, these ‘hemispheres’ allowed Nike to relieve the pressure on the heel, while also adding more cushioning to the forefoot.

The ‘Sky Air’ would utilise a trio of previously unseen manufacturing techniques, including McDowell’s lofty idea of a gradient fade – a central component to his ambitious vision.

‘As soon as I heard “sky”, I was like, oh my god, I just saw this amazing sky in Florida,’ McDowell recently told Nike. ‘I did a sunset. I did a blue one. I did a purple one. I tried a couple of different colours and sky versions, some palm trees were a little more tech-y and very geometric, and others were waving.’

For McDowell, the ‘Sky Air’ was almost a literal interpretation: you could lodge your foot right between the palm trees – as if you were walking on air. ‘It could make a quarter panel,’ McDowell remembers in his early sketches. ‘You could hold your foot down with those palm trees.’

The beachside doodles were a circuit-breaker for Nike. The Sky Air was finally signed off by Foot Locker, and would eventually become the Air Max Plus. But for the TN’s earliest adopters in Australia, in the late 1990s and early 2000s, this tranquil breeze blowing from Florida’s beaches was felt very differently.

They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Well, so is the beast. In Australia, the TN’s postcard-perfect sunset was interpreted as a spray-paint fade (emblematic of Australia’s railway entrails in the late 1990s and early 2000s), while the swaying palm trees were perceived as ribs or swollen veins, ominously swelling across the mesh uppers.

‘I had no attraction to the TN when I first saw it in Sydney,’ says TN collector Raymond Ray. ‘I mean, it had spider-web looking veins running across the uppers.’ However, the pugnacious aesthetic appealed to Australia’s fringe and, when paired with the hefty $239.99 price tag (the highest ticketed item at Foot Locker at the time), the TN became a badge of honour for Australia’s defiant underground in the early 2000s.

‘It was the inherent “bad man” shoe’, says another devoted TN collector Jay M. ‘Searchers, lads. These were the types of characters originally wearing them. Honestly, they’d be taken from your feet if you crossed the wrong guy.’

Graffiti, rave, and eshay sub-cultures throughout Sydney’s Greater West and Melbourne all adopted the TN, Nike’s seven bubbles becoming part of a broader sartorial outfit usually featuring the likes of Polo, Nautica and, of course, the all-important bumbag.

For some early collectors, it was the TN’s connection to the badly-behaved Aussie underbelly that attracted them to the sneaker – not necessarily the design itself.

‘Members of that certain lifestyle loved to show off their “success” and keep fresh at the same time. Naturally, footwear is the go-to way,’ says Raymond. ‘The reputation from these sorts of characters that wore the shoe is what initially attracted me to the TN.’

Fuelled by Australia’s truculent outcasts and artists, McDowell’s ‘whale tail’ (the TN’s midfoot shank was originally modelled on a whale’s tail) soon breached the broader retail market at Foot Locker, and paved the way for over two decades of successful Aussie-exclusive colourways.

Retina-blasting colourways have become fundamental to the TN’s enduring success in Australia. Originally ignited by the OG colourways – ‘Hyper Blue’, ‘Orange Tiger’, and ‘Grey Shark’– it didn’t take long for Foot Locker to start producing exclusive hits Down Under, including the ‘Tiffany’, ‘Fades’, ‘Sunburn’ and ‘Cactus’.

These bold Aussie-exclusives sparked the imagination of TN-heads. Around the same time, blogs and forums erupted in the digi-sphere, providing a place to debate, bemoan or blast all the latest releases. Those online spaces became a fiercely protected place for TN lovers. Debates routinely ignited over materials and shape, as well as manufacturing specifics around Made in Vietnam or Made in Indonesia models.

Foot Locker have been fundamental in shaping this dialogue and fuelling the TN's eye-watering success in Australia. 'You become an absolute sponge for what’s happening in sneaker culture,’ says one Foot Locker insider. ‘We’re monitoring tens, or hundreds of blogs constantly to see where the influences are coming from. The word that comes to mind is nurture. We want to do the TN justice. We want to stay authentic.’

One of the most passionate and incendiary sneaker fan bases in the world, there’s a lot of pressure surrounding every single Aussie-exclusive TN colourway.

‘The TN community is such an authentic, tight-knit community within Australia,’ says Foot Locker. ‘If we’re not in-tune (pardon the pun) with what’s in-line with customer sentiment on the blogs, then it makes it very difficult for our future aspirations.’

One of the more recent hits for the TN was undoubtedly the ‘Lava’ colourway. Originally arriving in 2015, the molten-hot TN hit shelves just months after Kanye West’s Nike Air Yeezy 2 ‘Red October’, and continues to be one of the more hallowed colourways in Nike’s vast Air Max Plus catalogue.

‘The Yeezy 2 Red October came out in 2014. It got me by nine months, so I’m wondering if that had a subliminal influence on me,’ our insider revealed. ‘But the objective with the “Lava” was to be really bold, premium and distinctive. I knew I had to disrupt the pattern of white mesh TNs.’

Outside of ‘Triple Black’ and ‘Triple White’ renditions, monotone colourways were scarcely seen during the TN’s fledgling years. Now, it’s one of the highest volume areas of the sneaker industry more broadly.

That shift has proven to be one of many evolutions we’ve seen from the TN over its 20-year history. From its early days as an OG Air Max agitator in ‘Orange Tiger’, to more recent iterations like the ‘Lava’, a whole new generation of sneakerheads are now eager to lace the seven-bubbled beast.

‘They’re more mainstream now,’ says Jay M. ‘They’ve become more accessible and trendy, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. I think the shoe has finally gotten the recognition it deserves, and not shunned for its connotations.’

Gradually outgrowing its hard-edged heritage, the reputation of the Air Max Plus has certainly softened, and is now being embraced by a broader demographic in Australia. Still, that’s not to say that any of us forget how the Air Max Plus stomped its way to cultural prominence in the early 2000s. Whether we’re conscious of it or not, that indelible TN badge still pays homage to all the suburban backroads.

According to Raymond, ‘It’ll be a long time before we forget its history, or how the shoe built its notoriety’.

For Foot Locker, the Air of the future is still Tuned. The challenge lies in continuing to push the boundaries on a sneaker routinely shattering the status-quo.

‘What else can we do with it? What can we play around with?’ says our insider. ‘How can we press the boundaries? This is a silhouette that really allows us to do this.’

Yes, the TN continues to cast an interminable shadow across Australia’s sneaker culture. Whether these long silhouettes are palm trees blowing gently in the breeze, or protruding veins swelling from muscle tissue, we’ll let you be the judge.

The New Balance 991 has always had a stellar international reputation. Known for its high-quality craftsmanship, comfort, and whiz-bang running technology, the 991 was the first 99x model born inside New Balance’s iconic Flimby factory, northwest of England. With its proud manufacturing roots, sneakerheads have embraced the model from every corner on Earth. From Silicon Valley’s tech billionaires to Ura-Harajuku’s style vanguard, the widespread embrace of the 991 helped carve out the sneaker style of the new millennium. Of course, brick-and-mortar boutiques were indispensable outposts for sneakerheads, tying the cultural knot between cities and underground communities and serving as a guiding light for all the latest heat and innovation.

With the new 991v2 City Exclusive pack, New Balance are celebrating the globe-trotting influence of the 991 and the retail partners that helped build and establish what we value as sneaker culture today. Each colourway is created with the essence of Made in UK collaborations from the mid and late 2000s, with yellow for the Asia-Pacific region, red for China, blue for the USA, green for Europe, and pink for Japan. The iterations will drop throughout this month via the boutique retailers starting on August 10, and the China exclusive will be available at NB Grey.

To get into the devilish details of the releases, we brought in partners-in-crime atmos, Social Status, Up There, Casestudy, and Starcow to see how they’re popping the cork for the launch.

atmos

Originally beginning as a tiny IYKYK retail store in the winding backstreets of Ura-Harajuku in Tokyo, atmos has become a global powerhouse. Founded by Hommyo Hidefumi, the style soothsayer previously worked at a textile trading company where he was tasked with producing tees, before starting his very own venture selling vintage clothing and sneakers based out of a junkyard in Harajuku. Prodigious collaborators, atmos now boasts over 30 stores in Japan and international outposts in New York, Seoul, Bangkok, Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur.

Founded just one year before the New Balance 991 launched, the prestigious New Balance line has always remained a focal point for atmos and Creative Director, Hirofumi Kojima. ‘The 991 series, a flagship of Made in UK, has become an indispensable staple in the Japanese sneaker scene,’ he says. ‘Distinctly British, it’s stylish and sophisticated. The model holds its own unique charm that sets it apart from the Made in USA line.’ A coveted series in the hallowed streets of the Ura-Harajuku district, it was the 991 that helped pivot Japanese consumers toward the Made in UK lineup. Up until then, Made in USA manufacturing had dominated the market, thanks largely to the runaway success of the New Balance 990.

But serving up distinct, regionally-focused footwear to their throngs of fans is not without its challenges, especially in the increasingly globalised sneaker market and the advent of internet shopping. Back around the time of the original New Balance 991 launch, sneaker sleuths would relentlessly track down rare and elusive grails, often travelling to atmos outposts for Japanese-exclusive product. atmos still welcomes these dedicated customers, but it’s become harder to serve up unique models.

‘I recently visited Paris for Fashion Week, and the product lineup was almost identical to Japan's, leaving me with nothing particularly new or desirable,’ says Kojima. It’s the reason why a pack like this is being welcomed with open arms. ‘Releasing region-exclusive colorways like this one is unique and incredibly exciting. It will undoubtedly become a significant shoe that stimulates communities and markets, generating buzz and conversation.’

Casestudy

K-Style has become one of the most significant sartorial exports in recent years. Handed a megaphone thanks to a booming entertainment industry, Seoul has transformed into a sneaker megalopolis. Located in the upscale Gangnam District, Casestudy is a significant player within this new generation of style brokers. The first thing that'll catch your eye when visiting Casestudy is the store itself. Designed by Paris-based III Studio, sneakerheads can browse product on modular wooden shelves against luxurious brushed metal walls, altogether presenting a sleek, minimalist interior characterised by clean lines and open spaces.

‘The goal of Casestudy is to continuously present newness and fun to young customers in South Korea,’ says store buyer Kyle Yongkyu Lee. ‘We hope it becomes a space that can always offer new excitement and become a fashion community that is easy to visit and enjoy.’ The New Balance 99x series has become an important linchpin for South Korea’s new style savants. Extolled for its impeccable manufacturing history, the line is one of the great chameleons of Seoul’s fashion hubs. ‘It’s very rare to find a model that suits every fashion category. From street culture and everyday casual wear to Amekaji (a Japanese term that refers to American casual) and biz casual.’ says Kyle. The 991 specifically has a personal connection to Kyle, who recites the impact it made on him in the early 2000s. ‘The moment I encountered the 991 I recognised its subtle elegance, its luxury and comfort.’

The team at Casestudy will be hoping the new 991v2 will make a similar impact on the next generation of South Korean sneakerheads, particularly with the City Exclusive 991v2 pack landing in stores this month. With the new crop of tech-savvy tastemakers emerging from South Korea, the 991v2’s reception in the capital city will no doubt carry significant weight in the region and far, far beyond.

Social Status

Part of The Whitaker Group’s empire, Social Status are known for delivering an elevated retail experience, packed with premium brands. Originally hailing from Charlotte, NC, where they opened their doors in 2005, Social Status now holds multiple locations across the USA, including their Baltimore store, which opened just last year. The retailer’s most unique setup yet, the Baltimore-based store manages to blend Social Status’s modern and clean aesthetic with the nitty-gritty of Baltimore city – making it the perfect place to play host to the silhouette in question.

'The story aligns to the approach from all participating partners in highlighting a key city, our contribution being the city of Baltimore and its community of creatives,' The Whitaker Group explain. 'Through the people, places, and spaces that form the city’s future and reflect its history, they help highlight the heritage and legacy component which is so crucial to the 991v2’s place in sneaker culture. Baltimore has a long history of connection to New Balance. From a cultural perspective, the brand means a lot to the DMV as a whole – so this moment serves to celebrate the connection between the community, our space’s service mandate to the city, and the brand.'

Social Status plan to continue giving back to Baltimore’s community of New Balance fans through an in-store event taking place alongside the unveiling on August 16. A second event will then follow on August 17 as part of Social Status’s beSocial program, which will focus on engaging new teachers as the school year begins in the city, as well as providing workshops for Baltimore’s youth. All registration links will be available on  socialstatuspgh.com and via the Social Status social media.

Starcow

Located in the Les Halles district, known as the ‘Belly of Paris,’ Starcow has been feeding Parisians skate and hip hop culture since the early 2000s. Evolving from cult favourite Justcow store in the 95th district, the team embarked on a mission to find and stock rare products and sneakers not distributed in France – a challenging task during the nascent years of the world wide web. Exposing an entire generation to elusive, far-flung items, Starcow is now prized lifestyle livestock among its Parisian and international peers – a reputation New Balance is paying homage to with the City Exclusives pack. ‘We’re really thrilled that New Balance approached us for the project,’ says Digital Manager Mathieu Vilasco. ‘It's important for independent stores to have moments with brands we consider close partners from the beginning. It’s an amazing opportunity to celebrate our passion and connect more with our community and customers.’

Throwing open their doors in the same era the New Balance 991 launched, the Made in UK line has always been an important silhouette for the footwear farmers at Starcrow. The 991 is especially resonant for the crew now, given the striking Y2K resurgence and the new arrival of the 991v2. ‘The 991 was a hit for sneaker enthusiasts back in the day, and New Balance always kept the good combination of craft and colour combinations. Sometimes they were classic, and sometimes more pushy – it kept the head turning. When we launched the 991v2, we had such a cool activation outlining the exceptional craftsmanship from Flimby. We were clearly excited with the sole reboot – the new shape is amazing.’

With the Parisian stomach rumbling for the upcoming 991v2 launch, it’s only fitting Starcow would throw a launch party for the French footwear gourmand, with goodies including sweets, tees and toys. They’ve also planned some tongue-in-cheek allusions to the ‘Froggy’ nickname their UK peers use for them. Bon appétit, grenouilles!

Up There

Our neighbours over at Up There have been on a strong run of late. Linking up with New Balance for the recent two-part instalment of the 2002R ‘Backyard Legends’, the folks at the Melbourne boutique are adding plenty of gas to our sneaker storytelling Down Under. Throwing open their doors in 2010, Up There was founded by like minded mates Jason Paparoulas, James Barrett and Brendan Mitchell. They’ve become known for their active involvement in the local community and of course, they’ve already got something epic planned for the New Balance 991v2 City Exclusives launch.

‘The projects we’ve been able to work with New Balance on have given us a chance to shine some light on, and give back to, our community who have supported us so much over the years,’ says James Barrett. ‘Our aim is to create memories through each shoe we collaborate on and release. Whether it’s through the content and storytelling, an "AUS" on the tongue and/or a release party, it has to be about much more than just the sell-through of the shoes.’

Melbourne is a hub known for its dynamic art scene and diverse population, so it’s no surprise that the sneaker retail scene is chock-a-block full of heat. But Up There has been widely embraced by Melbourne’s style savants, and the founders are welcoming retail neighbours as a motivation to keep them fleet-footed in their footwear. It’s part of the reason why they’ve shifted operations to Flinders Lane, the city’s ‘laneway HQ’ and home to some of the best shopping in the state.

‘Our new store solved a lot of the things that had been making life difficult. We needed more space to display more product, have a more comfortable shopping experience, a unique and exciting space and plenty of room for events. We managed to tick all of those boxes. The ongoing challenge for us is staying unique in our product offering and brand selection,’ says Barrett.

Arriving in this month, the City Exclusive pack has once again sparked nostalgia among the team at the Melbourne boutique, reminding them of the days when they lit up sneaker forums and scoured the globe for connections to secure specific releases from specific stores.

‘In this day of age where everything is so accessible, the new age sneaker collectors rarely get to experience the thrill of the chase,’ says Barrett. ‘Creating this sort of excitement for the sneaker community brings life to everyone involved, which is really important in this digital age.’

And how is the Aussie New Balance fan club reacting to the 991v2? ‘They’ve been flying since day dot! There’s always scepticism when a brand reworks a classic silhouette, but the 991v2 was done perfectly.’

Live music venues across the sunburnt country continue to thunder with homegrown hardcore talent. Hammered into shape by antecedents like Massappeal, Toe to Toe and Mindsnare, the new kids on the block still carry the fierce DIY attitudes and political vehemence of their predecessors, while also finding space to discover their own lung-punching pitch and style. Inextricably tied to the Air Max culture rampaging across the country, the next generation of hardcore has never been louder. So keep your liquids up and lather sunscreen liberally, these are some of the sweltering sneakers that define Aussie hardcore.

From the US to Terra Australis, Air Jordan Joins the Fray

Throughout the late 1970s, the sound of hardcore’s guttural lyrics poured out like concrete in cities across the United States. Underground movements were thriving, anointing new cult heroes like Black Flag in Cali and Bad Brains in Washington. But hardcore wasn’t only kicking up the tempo in live venues. Taking cues from hip hop, a genre also in its embryonic stages in the 1970s, hardcore ditched the Dr. Martens for sneakers and distanced itself from the sartorial peacocking of punk that was typified by its visionary linchpin, Vivienne Westwood. It was function, not form, that reigned supreme, and sportswear took centre stage.

It was for this reason that hardcore fell in love with sneakers like the Air Jordan 1. Whether bands were aware of the North Carolina prodigy getting air in Chicago or not, the performance-oriented Air Jordan 1 was lauded for its stoic durability in the pit and beyond (the silhouette was getting thrashed even in the skateparks of Southern California). Ray Cappo, the vocalist for the band Youth of Today says, 'Here’s what’s funny. I got the Air Jordan 1 KO at Marshall’s cheap! Because I thought they looked cool, they were cheap, and they were canvas as I was veg.'

By the mid-80s, hardcore was booming and local scenes were sprouting across the globe. Even in the far flung reaches of Australia, artists were lacing the Air Jordan 1. One such artist was Massappeal, who are forever remembered in hardcore folklore Down Under as one of the preeminent acts from the Harbour City. Band co-founder Brett Curotta recalls, ‘I had a pair of Air Jordan 1s in 1986, but they actually had a red Swoosh, which I hated! So I got a shitty black marker and blacked-out the Swoosh'. Even though hardcore music transformed throughout the following decades, some philosophical underpinnings remained, like the fierce DIY attitude – marker pens and all.

Hardcore culture from the US had originally filtered through to Australia via zines and tapes back in the 1980s, but by the late 90s and early 2000s, the Great Southern Land was hosting its very own hardcore festivals. Resist Records, an independent store and record label based in Newtown, Sydney, hosted one of the first: Hardcore 2000. Located at the Iron Duke Hotel in Zetland, the 200-capacity venue was a space to promote and amplify homegrown talent.

‘I wanted to showcase some of the country’s best hardcore bands,’ says founder Graham Nixon. ‘Hardcore Superbowl was another annual punk festival running a few years before Hardcore 2000. My idea was to replicate what they were doing, but have a lineup of mainly hardcore bands who were unlikely to play at the Superbowl.’

At both Hardcore 2000 and Hardcore Superbowl, mainstays like the Air Max 90, Air Max 95 and Air Max 97 regularly stomped through sets in Sydney, but it was the rowdy introduction of a seven-bubbled beast that truly cemented itself as a hardcore headliner in the new millennium.

Batten the Hatches: Tuned Air and Beyond

In the 2000s, hardcore began to collide with a sneaker juggernaut running roughshod over Sydney and Melbourne: Foot Locker's Nike TN. Arriving with brawn and bravado in 1998, the sneaker was created by rookie designer Sean McDowell, who got inspiration for the model from the palm trees and sunsets in Florida. But for a lot of sneakerheads Down Under, the TPU feature resembled agitated, varicose veins and the sunset-like gradient sparked images of Sydney’s spray-painted entrails. The silhouette quickly became the baddest shoe on the block – ‘I always wanted the TN because of their tough **** status,’ says hardcore photographer Chris Roese.

It’s no surprise that the TN’s belligerent reputation still courses through its TPU veins, and its red-line mythology remains popular throughout the current breed of hardcore bands, including Sydney behemoths SPEED. Comprising of Dennis Vichidvongsa, Josh Clayton, Kane Vardo, and brothers Aaron and Jem Siow, SPEED surged in popularity during Sydney’s interminable lockdowns, and they’re now relishing the chance to play in front of their fans – blood, sweat and Air Max all inclusive.

Clayton says, 'Australia is very influenced by street fashion –  TNs, Air Max 95s, Air Max 97s. I remember seeing the 'Infrared' colourway and thinking, "Fuck, I need those"'. He continues, ‘Hardcore has always been synonymous with sportswear. It’s just very easy to wear, which makes sense for the live performances.'

This unconditional love of Air Max is shared by fellow hardcore Sydney-sider, Trent, from the band Relentless. ‘I personally have always been so drawn to Air Max sneakers, especially the Air Max 1s. Fashionably, they are my favourite Air Max silhouette. They pair perfectly with some baggy jeans or Dickies and support me enough to move around on the stage and in the pit!’.

Back in the Pit with Air Max

These live performances have become a focal point for hardcore acts, especially after diehard fans were left stranded behind computer screens during the pandemic. It’s something that punk acolytes share with sneakerheads all over the world: the resolute sense of community.

‘When you’re bonding over something so niche, you can really relate to each other a lot better,’ says Aaron from SPEED. ‘A lot of people I know through hardcore are people I never would have encountered in my life were it not for the fact we had this common interest. I think if you see someone wearing a pair of really rare sneakers, it’s a similar experience.’

With the next generation of Air Max and Aussie hardcore well and truly upon us, it’s hard to imagine the air getting sucked from hardcore's lungs, or shoes, anytime soon.

Get your feet into the fray at Foot Locker – the home of all things Air Max.

For hardcore New Balance fans, the world will always appear in shades of grey. From the circuit-breaking 990 to brand-new models like the 327, the overcast palette has become synonymous with the Boston label. But to truly understand the significance of Grey Day, an annual celebration of all the silver foxes in the vast New Balance canon, we need to travel back to the 1980s, when the running phenomenon was beginning to hit its stride.

In the 1980s, a new wave of consumerism was booming in America. It was the era of gaudy neon advertisements, shoulder pads and power suits. Not only was the aesthetic eye-watering, but many US brands were also looking to cut manufacturing costs in order to drive retail prices down. The bolder (and preferably cheaper), the better.

In typical fashion, New Balance treaded against the grain. Favouring neutral grey tones and unapologetic price points, the Boston imprint bet on their superior manufacturing processes and materials, a move that was reflected in their advertisements of the era. In an early magazine spread for the 410, New Balance emphasised their unflinching pathway forward: ‘Not in the habit of wilfully changing their shoe models each year to match the fashion colours of the Paris collection,’ the text trumpeted.

Put simply: New Balance were willing to let their product do the talking. If you really wanted a superior product, NB had the answer. Their starry-eyed technological agenda fuelled the running mania sweeping the globe. It was a battle for sole supremacy – who could offer the best traction, cushioning and comfort?

The flurry of classic grey models helped New Balance to carve out a loyal niche in an epoch marked by short-lived fads and garish palettes. The sneakers were unmistakable, and they were causing a swelling storm for runners the world over.

It’s impossible to chart the legacy of grey New Balance sneakers without putting pigskin suede under the microscope.

Being the strongest leather for its weight, it allowed NB models like the 990 to flex – not crease! – unlike many other sneakers on the market. Producing buttery soft short-nep suede (thanks largely to its dense fibrous structure), the pigskin suede was utilised for its unique combination of softness and pliability, a superior quality not seen in cowhide.

While the Boston brand experimented with both the synthetic leather Ceracom 574 and the Nubuck 1300, nothing quite lived up to the superlative characteristics of pigskin. More expensive than its cowhide counterparts, they were happy to cut the checks and communicate the price to its consumers – a transparent marketing strategy that became emblematic of the imprint.

One advertisement proclaimed: ‘Our award-winning models are only replaced when better materials and new techniques make a new shoe worthwhile for the runner.’

And let’s not beat around the pigpen: pigskin suede and grey go together like Silicon Valley and the 992. The smoky hues allowed the subtle characteristics of the material to shine through, bestowing the 1980s models with a longevity that’s proudly self-exiled from the fickle vagaries of fashion.

It was time to walk the walk. Between 1978 and 1982, New Balance threw the kitchen sink at their brain trust, removing all time and money constraints. The first model to use premium grey pigskin leather, 3M reflective transfer film on the back tab, and moulded MCD (Motion Control Device), the 990 now occupied the vanguard of New Balance R&D.

Hitting stores at $100, the 990 was the most expensive running shoe of its time. Originally projected to sell 5000 pairs in its first year, the 990 went nuclear, selling much more than originally expected. Word of mouth quickly spread about its superlative running DNA, and the silhouette was hailed for its performance characteristics as its viability as a status symbol – especially considering its historic three-digit ticket price.

‘No one ever thought we’d be able to sell a $100 shoe,’ NB chairman Jim Davis recalled in 2013. ‘But it really surprised and it took off right away. It was a great shoe.’

‘Great’ may be an understatement.

The 990 is still one of the most coveted lines in New Balance’s vast catalogue. A grey-haired progenitor of the modern normcore style, the chameleonic qualities of the 990 and its various guises throughout its five-volume career have seen the 990 repeatedly rear its head as a cultural powerhouse.

Collaborators clamour over one another for a chance at remixing the sneaker, while the dad shoe phenomenon sweeping the globe in 2017, of course, owes much to the successes of the 99X series more broadly.

Famously ‘worn by supermodels in London and dads in Ohio’, the 990’s grey on grey is still the undisputed king for OG enthusiasts.

Another technological tour de force, the 1300 arrived in 1984. Upping the ante yet again, the silhouette hit shelves in its classic grey and icy blue palette for $130 and was advertised alongside the tongue-in-cheek slogan, ‘Mortgage the house’.

Wrapped in cosy nubuck and premium pigskin, the 1300 shared some of the hallmarks of the 990 (including the Vibram sole and plastic heel stabiliser) but introduced a new innovation to the tech arsenal: ENCAP – the combination of an EVA foam core and a polyurethane sole.

Manufactured in Maine, the 1300 also became a flagship product for NB’s ‘Made in USA’ marketing push and quickly earned its reputation as one of the most luxurious runners ever.

A defining moment for the brand, the 1300 was the cream of the crop for many years, recruiting hordes of fans across the globe, most notably in Japan, where their love of New Balance and all things Americana was expanding.

Yes, you may have lost the house, but you could live a lifetime in the 1300.

Where would NB’s greyscale ascendance be without the 574?

Branching out from the 990 and 1300, the 574 was manufactured as the unofficial baseline model for New Balance. Rather than acting as a platform for vaulting technological innovation, the silver stalwart found a perfect place in the market.

Emphasising its ‘everyman’ credentials, the humble grey 574 was conspicuously absent from big-budget advertising campaigns, celebrity endorsements, and even New Balance catalogues of the late 1980s. The 574 was ‘the strong, silent type’ – it simply showed up on the shelves without prior warning, and savvy sneakerheads couldn’t get enough.

Lifting the hood on the 575 and 576, the 574 was born from relentless tinkering and its ‘Worn By Anyone’ ethos. Boldly combining characteristics from trail and track running, it adopted a wider shape than previous narrower racing silhouettes.

Permeating New York City’s burgeoning hardcore scene of then, the clean-living ‘straight-edge’ artists found linguistic resonance in the ‘New Balance’ creed and unpretentious 574. Alongside a movement born from the perceived excesses of punk during the 1970s, the New Balance brand and their 574 model came to symbolise a deliberate ideological shift. At the time, New Balance were one of the only brands experimenting with 100 per cent animal-free product – another philosophical lynchpin from within the hardcore scene.

Later, the grey 574 was jet-setting across the globe, most notably in Harajuku’s legendary fashion scene, where the model was extolled for its heritage, American-made DNA.

Suffice to say, the New Balance 574 is as strong – although perhaps not as silent – as ever.

The 997 was at the forefront of New Balance R&D in the early 1990s. Carving a careful path between casual weekend runners and diehard pavement pounders, the 997’s unassuming silver and grey liveries were packing real heat in the engine room.

While previous iterations of the 99X series adopted the die-cut EVA midsoles, the 997 ditched them all together in favour of a Polyurethane shell loaded with dual-density ENCAP inserts. Featuring jacked-up heels and prescient narrow toes, the sleek, modern aesthetic still represents the apex of New Balance design for its horde of fans.

Exalted in its infallible slate suede and dimpled leather, the 997 was key for the brand’s greyscale coup d’état throughout the early 1990s, becoming central to a proud, Made in USA manufacturing ethos – despite lingering rumours of pairs being made in Flimby, UK!

Inexplicably on hiatus for 20 straight years, the chimerical 997 finally made a triumphant return in 2014 with the help of a Concepts and KITH one-two punch.

But good luck finding a vintage grey pair – these are still one of the ultimate grails for New Balance fanatics.

In the mid-1990s, New Balance launched the 1400, which would become one of their most reliable sellers.

Born amidst the budding tech boom of the 1990s, the 1400 was impressive in its own right. Built with an ENCAP and C-CAP under the hood, the 1400 was originally scheduled to launch in 1985 as a sequel to the 1300 but landed nearly a decade later in 1994. Somewhat anachronistic to the small ‘N’ logos populating NB’s line in the 1990s, the 1400 was no shrinking violet, the heritage grey on grey colourway again adopting the gargantuan ‘N’ alongside cooler, more neutral tones.

While the design is a success in the United States, diligent fans of the 1400 will also proudly recite the impact the 1400 had on the Japanese market. A silhouette treasured thanks to its coveted Made in USA manufacturing, its superior running tech, and Japan’s passionate embrace of Americana more broadly, the Land of the Rising Sun was crucial in spreading the success of the 1400 globally.

Forever tied to one particular CEO and his black turtleneck and denim jeans, the New Balance 992 arrived with the dot-com boom in the early 2000s. Marking NB’s 100th anniversary, the sneaker launched alongside generation-defining product from Silicon Valley, helping to build a cult following among its numerous tech incubators and beyond.

Donning a classic grey colourway reminiscent of high-end hardware, the 992 was rendered in supple suede, breathable athletic mesh and the signature ABZORB innovation underfoot – the very first time the insock tech was used!

Hitting shelves in a mountain of width and sizes (78 in total), the extensive rollout was a far cry from the industry standard of approximately 30. This was especially relevant, considering the 992 had the highest manufacturing costs of any other model in the 99X series.

Discontinued for over a decade in 2010, the New Balance 992 surged back into the zeitgeist in 2020 thanks in part to its chunky dad shoe credentials and Y2K nostalgia, the 2020 retro in April selling out almost instantly in its inimitable grey composition.

Talk about a hard reset!

In 2017, dad shoe mania was in full swing, and sneakerheads were desperate for some extra calories below the heels.

Despite the fridge full of models cashing in on big-bodied profiles, for NB-heads, there’s still only one true biological father to the dad shoe phenom: The 990 series. Recent updates like the 990v4 and 990v5 have also helped pump new blood into those veteran bones.

This will come as no surprise to some. The 990 still inspires some of the fiercest loyalty we’ve seen in the sneakersphere. Having left its mark all over the plus-size sneakers lining the shelves in recent years, the staunch, grey-haired runner waving away colourful new hides in an industry notorious for ham-fisted facelifts.

We may be nearing the dusk of the dad shoe, but rest assured, New Balance 990s will keep cooking in case anyone gets hungry.

The wave whisperers at G-SHOCK have brought an enormous swell of saltwater classics over the years.

While models like the staunch MUDMAN DW5500C and deep diving FROGMAN series were popular among surfers for their rock-solid toughness, it wasn’t until 1996 that G-SHOCK launched the G-LIDE series, a line specifically engineered for marine mavericks.

Featuring technology like a tide graph and moon phase data, it didn’t take long for G-LIDE to paddle alongside some of the world’s top surfers to create a bounty of special-edition watches and signature models. One such surfer is Bettylou Sakura Johnson, who is the latest to join G-SHOCK’s impressive roster. The rising Hawaiian-American talent is known for her technical precision and fearless approach to challenging waves, making her a more natural fit than a fish in water. 

Born and raised in the mythical waters of Oahu’s North Shore, Johnson wet her feet in some of the most challenging surf conditions in the world. During the winter months, waves on the North Shore can reach an intimidating nine metres, attracting adventurous surfers from around the globe. Iconic spots such as Waimea Bay, Sunset Beach, and Banzai Pipeline all host major surfing competitions, including the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing – arguably the ultimate challenge in big wave surfing. These are just some of the many reasons why the North Shore is regarded as the surf capital of the world. 

‘It’s the best place on Earth to grow up,’ says Johnson. ‘I’m not sure I would be a surfer if I didn’t grow up on the North Shore. It defined my surf style in a way nowhere else can. When you’re surfing the waves, you have to meet it with power, or else you’ll get pushed around by the ocean. The ocean always keeps me humble and grateful.’ 

But it’s not just Hawaii's legendary waves that have helped shape the 19-year-old’s style. Sakura means ‘cherry blossom’ in Japanese and is a homage to her Japanese roots on her mother’s side. ‘Japanese fashion and culture inspire me in many ways,’ she says. ‘The people there are the most polite and helpful! It inspires me to be a better person every day. I love wearing kimonos every time I go to Japan and embracing my other half.’

Of course, G-SHOCK are one of the most well-respected brands in all of Japan. Created in 1983 by Kikuo Ibe, G-SHOCK’s long hands continue to reach into new and increasingly specialised fields. Across the sand, sky and stars, the Japanese label’s tough-as-nails reputation has continually solidified across 41 years. They remain unrivalled in the saltwater though, and the G-LIDE GLXS5600 is the latest timepiece to join G-SHOCK’s S-Series – a line that presents the same great technology and functions but in a smaller size.

Featuring the same wave-breaking tech as the full-size G-LIDE but designed for smaller wrists, the GLXS5600 is well-equipped for any rugged coastlines across Hawaii and beyond. More compact than ever before, the shock-resistant timepiece features 20-bar water resistance, tide graphs and moon data. The bezel and band are also made with bio-based resins that are produced using renewable organic resources, ensuring we’re protecting our oceans across the globe. It’s also equipped with G-SHOCK’s patented LED Super Illuminator, so you can still track the time after the sun has dipped behind the horizon. Not only is it ready for all kinds of water sports (and fishing!), but it’s also a rock-steady companion for pro surfers. ‘When I go for a surf, the G-SHOCK GLXS5600 is the watch to go!’ says Johnson. ‘It’s perfect; it has all the necessities I need when surfing. Especially with the tide graph, so when I surf I know what the tide is doing without my phone. There’s also a timer which is perfect for me when competing. It fits great too, not too big, not too small on the wrist.’ 

Coming in two fresh of surf-inspired colourways, the GLXS5600 is once again raising the bar for the G-LIDE line. Imbued with idyllic, natural coastline hues and pale matte textures, the lightweight timepiece is no doubt one of the most comfortable watches in G-SHOCK’s vast underwater arsenal.

Perfect for wave riding, marine sports and long days lazing on the sand, this is certainly one you want to reel in. Ready to test the waters? 

The Converse One Star is still a guiding light for skaters and style savants across the globe. After a brief but bullish display on the NBA hardwood in the early 1970s, the One Star later found itself reimagined on the streets of Tokyo, the vintage model extolled as an emblem of American varsity fashion.

But it wasn’t until the 1990s that the One Star truly began to shine. And this time, it was at the skatepark. Roused from its slumber by the beloved rag Thrasher, the One Star kicked and pushed its way to become one of the industry’s breakaway success stories of the decade.

Now, reinvigorated by the CONS skate team and a growing roster of collaborators, the One Star is ready to carve up the competition all over again. So grab your board and basketball: it’s time to take a closer look at the emanating impact of one of the brightest stars in the sneakersphere.

Converse were consistently outmuscling their opponents during basketball’s nascent years. For decades, the Chuck Taylor was doing all the scoring on the hardwood, with NBA Hall of Famer Wilt Chamberlain loading the stat sheet.

In 1974, it was time to introduce the newest star to their roster.

‘The One Star was our next step beyond the Chuck Taylor’, says Sam Smallidge, Archive Manager at Converse. ‘It was the first time we’d used leather. Up until then, it was all canvas. The One Star had all the comfort and performance of the All Star, plus the evolution of the leather material.’

Originally dubbed the Suede Leather All Star, the sawn-off version was defined by its vulcanised rubber soles, new leather construction, and single star emblazoned on the lateral sides. Also boasting a lighter price tag, the model was laced by the likes of Julius ‘Dr J’ Erving, Bernard King, and several other professional players looking for a more streamlined silhouette. But after just two years, the model was benched in favour of the Pro Leather – a sneaker offering a newer, more responsive cup sole.

Despite sitting dormant in the United States for a number of years, the One Star nevertheless found a robust pulse in unexpected markets. In fashion meccas like Harajuku, Japanese acolytes of Americana desperately rifled through stores in search of the One Star and other sartorial remnants from the 1970s. Praised for its streamlined suede construction and connection to the Ivy League style, Japan kept the One Star’s glow strong despite the interest waning stateside.

But this was all about to change.

In 1993, it was time for the remodelled Converse One Star’s rip-roaring comeback. And this time, it was the skaters and street urchins that gave the model its eye-peeling momentum.

Broadcast to the world via Spike Jonze’s skate opus Mouse (where tech extraordinaire Guy Mariano famously laced the sneaker) and Thrasher magazine in the mid-90s, the One Star was getting huge air. With a burgeoning skate scene, an attractive price point and a better board feel, the One Star was blazing.

‘Thrasher was a national publication, so it pushed the One Star’s influence across the entire US’ – well beyond just the East Coast,’ says Smallidge. ‘And after several lifestyle iterations, you really see the One Star grow into its own little lifestyle brand within Converse’.

Further amplified by the ear-ringing influence of Seattle grunge and its disgruntled godfather Kurt Cobain, the One Star was now a counterculture anti-hero. By the late 90s, it was entering a new millennium with sole-destroying speed.

The Converse One Star is maintaining impressive momentum in the 21st century thanks to a steady run of collaborations and an ever-expanding roster of CONS team riders. Recruiting Supreme skate duo Sean Pablo and Sage Elsesser, the team was given some shiny new hardware with the debut of a skate-specific One Star in 2015. After experimenting with several different performance technologies, the Converse team landed on CONS traction rubber outsoles and moulded CX sockliners, adding unprecedented levels of comfort and impact absorption.

On the collaborative front, the One Star also wasn’t warming the bench. Stateside raconteurs like Tyler, the Creator and Stussy have repurposed the silhouette for a streetwear-savvy audience, while godfather of Ura-Harajuku fashion Hiroshi Fujiwara has reinforced the model’s strong connections to Japan.

Not strictly limited to the model’s profound success in US and Japanese markets, the One Star has also stamped its passport all over the world, collaborating with Dutch masters Patta, Hong Kong’s CLOT, Milan’s Slam Jam and many, many more.

As we quickly approach the One Star’s 50th anniversary, Matt Sleep, head of collaborations at Converse, is keen to continue to bring a diverse portfolio.

‘You’re going to see a very heavy roster, moving through skate, lifestyle, fashion and streetwear. We’re going to be touching on the historic elements that made the One Star so popular.’

With a radiant constellation of collaborations, skaters and devotees the world over, the One Star continues to emit a glow that reaches both new and established sneaker cultures around the globe.

Ready to go star-gazing? Shoot over to Converse to shop all the brightest sneakers in the galaxy.

PSA: ECCO just threw one of the slickest parties of 2023 to celebrate the new collection designed by Natacha Ramsay-Levi. Located in a surreal venue hidden behind Victorian shopfronts, the event included blasts of flavour by Danish tastemaker Bille Brahe and live beats by Jorja Smith. A brand on a remarkable run in 2023, ECCO were of course also serving up plenty of heat on the footwear front. All designed by Parisian wunderkind Natacha Ramsay-Levi, the collection of 15 styles included a fresh take on the legendary Chelsea Boot and the BIOM C-Trail – the latter of which is a lightweight, GORPcore original ready to blaze its own path. Strap in as we take a closer look at ECCO’s latest footwear innovations and recap a wild night in Spitalfields.

The space itself was bewildering to behold. Artists Philip and Charlotte Colbert enlisted the design expertise of Buchanan Studio earlier this year to turn their Victorian English country house into an oozing, pop-art infused gallery that expands 6,000 square feet. Part private home, part gallery, the five-story artwork is filled with four main symbols that are close to the hearts of the Colberts: The Lobster, Uterus, the Cactus, and the Eye. Lobster claws protrude from every space imaginable – some are Medusa-like and decapitated, while others roam chess sets, tables, book shelves or telephones. It was the perfect setting for the celebration of an innovative and forward-thinking collection.

With everyone's appetites whet from the tripped-out crustaceans, it was time for Danish chef Bille Brahe to do his thing. Overhauling the Danish culinary scene with his laid-back attitude and background in music, Brahe is the brains behind a trio of Copenhagen stalwarts. Known as much for their food as the fashion (Londoners swear that Apollo Bar’s avo toast is the best on the planet), Brahe’s restaurants have long served as sartorial outposts for Copenhagen’s cool kids.

Adding to the line-up of talent in the house was Jorja Smith, who laid out new tracks from her EP, Falling or Flying, in the vast basement exhibition space down below. Stunning the audience with her ethereal pipes, the intimate set was also replete with fan-favourites from the archive, including the track that shot her to fame in 2018, ‘Blue Lights’.

For ECCO, it was the product that was doing all the talking. Natacha Ramsay-Levi was Ghesquière's right hand at Balenciaga for more than a decade, and she has now taken her design skills over to ECCO to create footwear for modern women on the move. The 15-piece collection was planted throughout the venue, mixing in seamlessly with the style of the Colbert's space.

‘There is a quiet confidence to ECCO which I love,’ says Ramsay-Levi. ‘They know who they are, what they do, and control how they do it. And because they have this trust and awareness and knowledge, they can take risks. There is something very special, super authentic, super true about ECCO, I’m very impressed by the way everything is done – from technical innovations to the culture.’

One of the footwear highlights was no doubt the BIOM C-Trail, a seamless combination of elevated high fashion with streetwear attributes that will no doubt find numerous homes in the boroughs of East London. Fused with full-grain ECCO leathers (made in their own tanneries), GORPcore and bold colourways, the silhouette also features all the latest tech from the lab, including ECCO FLUIDFORM and BIOM Natural motion.

The ECCO Grainer boot, an experimental take on the iconic Chelsea Boot, was also getting plenty of attention. Another bolt of inspiration from Ramsay-Levi, the Grainer incorporates the premium look and feel of a Chelsea boot, albeit set on more colourful, rubber-lugged outsoles.

It goes without saying that we can’t wait to clamp our claws into this collection. Recently celebrating their 60th birthday, ECCO are looking more refreshed and recharged than ever.

Shop the latest collection by Natacha Ramsay-Levi x ECCO right here.

Terrace styles are once again running riot in the sneaker industry in 2023. Reared in the rain-battered stadiums of England, the nostalgia runs deep for PUMA, having built a vast archive of football Hall of Famers. With terracewear experiencing a grandstand comeback among a new generation of sneakerheads, the Palermo is ready to captain the Big Cat’s lineup, with the legendary model now reintroduced in both new and OG uniforms.

Fresh Loot in Liverpool

Football fans in England during the 1970s and 1980s were a truly diehard breed. Devoutly following their clubs across Europe like a religious procession, supporters of clubs such as Liverpool FC packed stadium terraces in search of the holy grail: the European Cup.

But it wasn’t just in raucous stadiums that fans forged allegiances. Throughout Europe, football fanatics raided local stores in the hunt for rare sneakers and exotic sportswear, in what became an endless cycle of sartorial one-upmanship. These ‘casuals’, as they came to be known, were tracking down elusive models long before the term ‘sneakerhead’ entered our lexicon. For casuals, it wasn’t merely enough to put the ball in the back of the net more times than the opponent, supporters also had to outpace rival clubs by scoring style points in the stands.

‘It was all about the shoes English fans couldn’t get in the UK,’ says Jan Kessel, senior product line manager at PUMA sportstyle. ‘Fans wore them in their home stadiums, so everyone else knew they were travelling abroad with their clubs on away trips.’

The Striking Sicilian

Of course, the brand logos had become inextricably tied to the perpetual peacocking in the stands. The bigger, the better. And like any good Sicilian, the Palermo model didn’t arrive with subtlety. Originally part of a special series of sneakers created by PUMA that paid homage to some of Europe’s most famous capital cities including London and Oslo, the Palermo still evokes a deep sense of football nostalgia.

Emblazoned with head-turning ‘Palermo’ branding on the sidewalls, the model left no illusions as to where your allegiances lay. The rarer the shoe, the more coveted among your peers, and the Palermo was worn like a badge of honour for the lucky few who managed to hunt down the model.

The Palermo is now primed for a rip-roaring comeback, but resurrecting the archival champion was not without its challenges.

‘The fact that we didn’t have an OG reference sample on hand for the upper was really challenging,’ says Kessel. ‘We mostly had to rebuild it based on pictures.’ Luckily, when it came to recrafting the midsole, an OG German Army Trainer – which bears similar tooling to the Palermo – was on-hand to guide the design team.

Despite this, PUMA were able to faithfully reproduce a model long considered a legend of their football catalogue. Replete with all the design blueprints that made the shoe a hit in stadium terraces during the 1980s, the model is manufactured with throwback T-toe construction and gum soles. No doubt capitalising on the trimmed down, minimalist sneaker aesthetics running laps around the zeitgeist in 2023, the Palermo utilises a mixture of crisp leather and suede that helped define its terrace teammates.

And its power wasn’t only in its vintage characteristics, but also in its unique storytelling opportunities. Last year, PUMA teamed up with UK boutique size? for a The Godfather-themed collection including ‘The Wedding’, ‘The Bar’, and ‘The Restaurant’. Revisiting iconic scenes and locations throughout Francis Ford Coppola’s 1972 opus, the collaboration featured memorable quotes, including the classic line, ‘Leave the gun. Take the cannoli.’

The Terrace Revival in 2023

PUMA are continuing to welcome more diverse members to the Palermo family. With the 1980s terrace revival hitting a fever pitch, a whole new playing field of possibilities is opening up for women and fashion-savvy sneakerheads. Just recently, pop royalty Dua Lipa and model Emily Ratajkowski were both snapped wearing the silhouette.

A far cry from the male-dominated hooliganism that once pervaded football styles, terracewear has broadened its aperture to include more progressive values and aesthetics, opening up its membership to those not necessarily stuck to the stadium seats every weekend. For the new generation of sneakerheads, the football fashion of the 1970s and 80s is being reimagined.

‘Back then, people were attached to the superstar players PUMA had on their roster, like Pelé and Diego Maradona,’ says Helmut Fischer, head of PUMA archive. ‘Fans idolised them, so they bought their shoes – the Pele Brazil and Maradona Sport. These days, it’s more about the individual silhouette and how it fits.’

Indeed, the styling canvas for the Palermo is boundless. Like a star utility on the field, the model can play any position. From nostalgia-laden denim and tracksuit ‘fits that herald 1980s casual styles, to more modern wardrobes that playfully reinterpret the silhouette (think plaid skirts, jorts and knee-high socks – even lace!), Gen Z are relentlessly curating looks on TikTok. A simple search of the blokecore hashtag, a movement largely led by women, will no doubt serve as a moodboard for numerous Palermo styling options.

‘It’s funny. I remember a time when sneakers were strictly worn on Sundays or for sports,’ says Fischer. ‘Fashion always moves in cycles. Now people are finding new ways to style the sneakers they saw their parents wearing.’

Thankfully, there’s more than enough Palermos to experiment with. Arriving in its indelible blue and white colour palette alongside a duo of zesty iterations inspired by fruit vendors (known locally as fruttivendolo) – with a slew of colourways to roll out later in the year – the juice was certainly worth the squeeze when it came to reviving the iconic Palermo.

The Hunt Is On

The T-toe Palermo is kicking goals in 2023, and it does so with the backing of a stacked lineup of archival models that were equally embraced by the casuals of the 70s and 80s.

PUMA’s capital city-spruiking series emboldened links to specific locales, from the Roma to London and Palermo, and the Big Cat’s football stampede was bearing its cosmopolitan claws to rival football fans in the stands, stamping their itineraries to their sneakers like a passport.

Take for instance, the Oslo City. Originally intended for indoor sports like handball and volleyball, the 1968 model soon found itself in football terraces. The casual leather design with clean suede overlays is a perfect bookend to tracksuits and denim jeans, and because the shoe was built to sustain the sharp movements and heavy friction of handball players, the model transitioned well to outdoor-wear.

‘Handball was a really big deal in Germany,’ says Fischer. ‘Throughout the late 70s, mid-80s, we were working really closely with the national team.’

Several other classic silhouettes from the Herzogenaurach archives also found a second life throughout England’s football terraces. The Super Team was also originally designed for the German national handball team in 1982, while the Army Trainer appeared on the feet of German armed forces in the 1970s. The Delphin, emblazoned by its OG canary yellow and navy blue colourways, were hard to miss.

Football fans were also gravitating towards tennis silhouettes thanks to Argentinian tennis player Guillermo Vilas. While he was grinding opponents down with his herculean backhand, the GV gave football fanatics whiplash in train stations and terraces thanks to its chunky PU sole units – emblematic of other terrace classics like the Argentina and California.

In other words, PUMA’s football catalogue was bursting at the seams. And with terrace style purring again in modern sneaker culture, it was only fitting that the Big Cat would rise to strike for goal.

The 2023 Palermo is sure to revive the model for fans both new and existing, with the new colours adding zest to an old favourite. The only thing left to do now? Put the ball into the back of the net.

Danish label hummel are well and truly buzzing right now. Originally taking flight from Northern Germany almost a century ago, hummel have cultivated deep roots in European sportswear, sponsoring the likes of Real Madrid, Aston Villa, and even the Danish national team. Now, the hummel HIVE, a huge nest of artists and designers, are bringing in some of the sweetest collaborations in the game, linking up with fellow Scandinavian designer Astrid Andersen for the ultra-fly, retro-minimalist REACH LX 6000.

Legend has it, bees were never really supposed to fly. The combination of their tiny wings and fat, protuberant body makes them one of Mother Nature’s more alluring paradoxes. Named after the German word for ‘bumblebee’, hummel frequently reference the story of the bumblebee in their founding narrative.

It’s a story of resilience and overcoming the odds. It is, of course, the story of the underdog. It begins on a drizzly afternoon in 1923, when Albert Messmer stood watching a local football match in his hometown of Eppendorf, Hamburg. On the muddy, uneven pitch, the players kept losing their footing and falling to the ground. Messmer, a shoemaker by trade, returned to his workshop and stayed up all night to craft what would become one of the world’s very first football cleats. Together with his brother, Michael Ludwig Messmer, Albert founded ‘Messmer & Co.’, later known as hummel.

hummel would remain in Hamburg up until 1956, when Danish visionary Bernhard Weckenbrock brought the label to Kevelaer in the venerated lands of North Rhine-Westphalia. Weckenbrock established a clear flight path and identity for the hummel brand, famously introducing the double-chevron logo (conveying the forward-thinking motif) and now-iconic bumblebee logo.

Known for being one of the largest Catholic pilgrim locations on earth, the hummel brand would flower in Kevelaer’s sacred lands.

Propagating their long-established football roots, hummel signed their first sponsorship deal with Duisburg in 1968, a team that was playing in the 2nd German Bundesliga. As part of the deal, every player was reportedly given 50 Deutsche Marks in an envelope for wearing hummel each match.

One year later, hummel introduced their first sportswear collection. It was a hit – particularly in the German market. The bumblebee was, literally and figuratively, getting bigger.

In the late 1960s, hummel introduced a rounder version of their logo. Luckily, the beefed up insignia had no problems taking flight – this time across the globe!

hummel shifted to Denmark in the 1980s and, over the next two decades, the label inked lucrative contracts with Real Madrid (including its superstar striker Emilio ‘El Buitre’ Butragueño), Tottenham Hotspur, Aston Villa, and even the Danish national team, galvanising huge global support for the brand. Eye-catching moments included the Olympic Games in Los Angeles in 1984 when the Danish national handball team were affectionately dubbed ‘The Candy Boys’ thanks to their technicoloured hummel kits. In 1992, the Danish football team finally lifted the European Cup, defeating Germany in the final, and delivering a watershed moment for the hummel brand.

In more recent times, the hummel buzz has continued into the 21st century, an era seemingly defined by collaborations. Adapting to that climate, in 2015 hummel linked up with Japanese sneaker boutique atmos and fellow Tokyo-based designer Mila Owen for the vintage Marathona – straight from hummel’s 1980s sneaker vault. The following year, hummel revisited the Marathona with sneaker royalty Overkill.

It became a big year for the brand, with the Scandinavian bees finally coming together to launch hummel HIVE in Aarhus. Derived from the word ‘beehive’, the hummel HIVE has built a huge nest of multidisciplinary artists and designers to extract nearly 100 years of honey.

Now, the HIVE are calling in Astrid Andersen’s eponymous label for one of hummel’s sweetest collaborations yet: the REACH LX 6000.

Unveiled during London Fashion Week Fall/Winter 2020, the Astrid Andersen x REACH LX 6000 illuminates hummel’s century of experience in sportswear with an ultra-fresh high-fashion finesse.

‘We’re really in the process of rediscovering ourselves as a brand’, says Marshall Hook, Head of hummel Design. ‘The Astrid Andersen collaboration is a really interesting fusion of minimalism, athleticism, performance, and some very quirky design elements.’

Collaborating with everyone from A$AP Ferg to M.I.A., Andersen cut her teeth at the Royal College of Art in London, before carving her own path in the fashion circuit with audacious combinations of luxury materials and sportswear.

A fellow student of Scandinavian minimalism, Andersen was the perfect candidate to articulate hummel’s enduring legacy, and establish a new flight path for the HIVE.

‘As a Danish brand, it’s really nice to have authentic stories from a Scandinavian point of view,’ says Hook. ‘It’s sometimes easier to look at bigger markets for inspiration. But it was really nice to find a partnership that was fashion-forward, and still a uniquely Scandinavian story.’

Originally designed for Spanish handball star Alex Dujshebaev, the Indoor 6000 was the world’s most advanced handball shoe. Retaining its vintage DNA, hummel’s updated silhouette includes the all new REACH cushioning technology, providing high-end impact protection and reactive foam compound. Built with suede, leather, and a semi-translucent mesh base, the REACH LX 6000 provides further depth with signature chevron mid-panel branding, and OrthoLite inserts to provide an extra level of comfort.

The debut colourway, inspired by hummel’s archive from the 1980s and 1990s, is galvanised by black midsoles and a burst of radiant orange citrus on the heel.

‘It’s really her own universe interpreted on our silhouette,’ says Martin Ahn, Product Manager of Footwear. ‘Astrid Andersen’s REACH LX 6000 is totally different from the rest of the sneakers we’re putting out. It really stands on its own’.

A stinging mashup of minimalism, luxury and athleticism, the Astrid Andersen REACH LX 6000 is a tour de force from hummel HIVE, and already looks like one of the tastiest silhouettes of 2020. The honey never tasted so sweet.

From their humble origins as a sock firm in Northern Italy to the runways of Florence, Kappa have become one of the most malleable brands in contemporary sportswear.

Bolstered by the provocative advertisements of the 1970s, Olympic success in the 1980s, and lucrative football partnerships across Europe, Kappa quickly transcended any one definition, the head-turning ‘Omini’ logo adopted by hip hop visionaries like Frank Ocean and the trailblazing Russian designer Gosha Rubchinskiy.

In celebration of Kappa’s latest SS19 collection, Sneaker Freaker took a look back at the moments that defined the extraordinarily versatile and unflinchingly iconoclastic label hailing from Piedmont, Italy.

It’s one of the most recognisable logos on earth. A man and woman sit naked, back to back, the outline of both figures gracing everything from Damon Albarn’s tongue-in-cheek tracksuits during the ‘Battle of Britpop’ to Ronaldo’s FC Barcelona jersey.

Conceived in 1969, it was by mere happenstance that the original design took shape. Created during a photoshoot for a bathing suit advertisement, the backlight created a unique silhouette that Kappa quickly adopted as their official logo. Sparked by some provocative advertisements throughout the next decade (Kappasutra, anyone?), the Kappa brand announced itself as one of the world’s foremost agent-provocateurs alongside its subsidiary, Jesus Jeans.

But Kappa’s genealogical roots extend far deeper than the Omini logo. In fact, the Kappa brand was first founded as a sock company in Piedmont – translated literally as ‘the foot of the mountains’.

Following the donation of a weaving machine, Abramo Vital began producing socks under the Maglificio Calzificio Torinese (MCT) banner, before branching out into underwear. In 1959, production hit a roadblock under the company’s Aquila label, and MCT began tagging their pieces with a bold ‘K’ – a nod to the German ‘Kontroll’ – to guarantee the quality of its products. The simple tag spiked a boom in sales, and two years later, ‘Kappa’ (the Greek letter for ‘K’) was born.

Kappa’s rise to cultural ubiquity began on the football field. Convinced of their economic viability, Kappa were the first brand in Italy to sponsor a football team. Beginning with the local Turin club Juventus in the 1970s, Kappa would later kit out the likes of Manchester City, Barcelona, Roma and Tottenham Hotspur during the 1980s and 1990s, exposing the brand to Europe's feverish football fans, and the so-called ‘casuals’ with a penchant for high-quality Italian sportswear.

Soon, Kappa was embraced from a cross section of die-hard football fans and streetwear aficionados alike, with fans of English clubs like Liverpool and Manchester United spilling across Europe in search of the latest quality Italian sportswear.

The 1990s proved particularly lucrative for Kappa, with Juventus winning their third Champions League final, Barcelona FC winning their fourth European Cup, and 'The Phenomenon' Ronaldo picking up the top scorer in La Liga and Ballon d'Or – all while wearing the Omini!

In 1984, under the tutelage of Dr. Kuznetz from NASA, Kappa stepped into the most competitive arena of all: the Olympic Games.

Taking aesthetic and technological cues from Russian astronauts, Kuznetz used iridescent silver stylings to reflect light and keep the United States’ athletes from overheating. The partnership between Kappa and the US track and field team eventually spanned 10 years, with legendary athletes like Edwin Moses, Carl Lewis, and Florence Griffith Joyner all stepping up to the podium in Kappa.

But it’s not just the Olympic Games that caught the eye of Kappa. The Italian arbiters of style have also sponsored rugby teams, Fijian national teams, the famous New York Marathon, and even a music festival in Turin!

Empowered by streetwear’s current preoccupation with revivalist fashion, Kappa are perfectly primed to revisit some of the iconic pieces worn throughout the brand’s storied history.

In 2017, breakout fashion designer Gosha Rubchinskiy linked up with Kappa for a 1990s-laden capsule, while in February 2019, Kappa Kontroll resurrected the beloved ‘K’ as a nostalgic nod to the brand’s enduring roots.

Yes, the humble sock company that sat ‘at the foot of the mountains’ in Northern Italy continues to successfully scale the intersection between sportswear and streetwear, the label’s nostalgic SS19 catalogue once again showing that the Omini’s history is, like the foothills of Piedmont, impossible to ignore.

The adidas Forum is a hardwood classic that has been hitting jumpers and craning necks since all the way back in 1984.

To celebrate the Forum and its widespread return this year, we've linked up with Sydney's number one miniature illustrator Eric Ng to capture the basketball sneaker in all its detail.

Premiering in 1984, the Forum revolutionised on-court performance models and coincidentally become the first basketball sneaker to break the three-digit price tag. But it wasn’t just ball players that fell in love with the Forum – the performance-oriented silhouette quickly transcended the hardwood to become a cultural lynchpin.

Lovingly laced by visionaries like the Beastie Boys, Keith Haring and Marky Mark, the Forum helped shape the nascent streetwear phenomenon sweeping the globe in the 1990s. The luxurious DNA and indelible throwback hook-and-loop strap binding together sprawling cultural narratives.

Transforming the New York subway into his own personal canvas in the 1980s, legendary street artist and social activist Keith Haring changed the art world forever with his laser-sharp, kinetic visual language raising awareness for AIDS, and bolstering other politically-charged movements across the globe.

A crucial ingredient to the explosion of radical art in the 1980s, Haring was almost always armed with chalk, paint, and Three Stripes, with models like the Forum providing him with ample durability for NYC bombing expeditions. Often splattered in paint, the Forum stepped off the NBA’s hardwood to become a favourite for artists like Haring, the performance-oriented silhouette adjusting nicely to the rigorous lifestyle of graffiti artists.

"More adidas sneakers than a plumber’s got pliers". So echoed the immortal lyrics of "Shadrach", the 13th track from the Beastie Boys’ monstrous sampling masterpiece – Paul’s Boutique. Debuting in 1989, the LP sent sonic and sartorial shockwaves throughout New York City, the eclectic LP matched by the Beastie Boys’ eye-watering wardrobe.

Throughout the next decade, Ad-Rock, Mike D, and MCA stepped out in varsity jackets, boiler suits, neon-coloured tracksuits, and gaudy accessories, but it was sneakers like the adidas Forum that forever besotted the tireless trio.

Transitioning from their punk rock origins to rap, the Beastie Boys became streetwear soothsayers for future generations. Seven platinum albums and over 20 million records sold worldwide – there’ll only ever be one pair of sneakers for the Beastie Boys.

One of the rare industry unicorns successfully transitioning from a career in hip hop to acting, the multi-hyphenate Mark Wahlberg originally founded Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch in 1991.

Owning the airwaves with his debut album Music for the People, and hit single ‘Good Vibrations’, wayward rapper Marky Mark helped define streetwear style in the early '90s. Wide-leg denim jeans (shirt optional), basketball caps, OTT accessories and adidas Forums framed much of his earlier wardrobe.

The 49 years old Oscar-nominated actor, model, hip hop superstar, and burger baron still remains stylistically committed to the Golden Age of hip hop. After all, the self-proclaimed sneakerhead’s collection was recently valued at over $1 million. Wahlberg also hasn’t strayed too far from the steamy, X-rated music videos from the Funky Bunch era, the 49-year-old actor still rising at 2.30am (yes, you read that correctly) to start his exercise regime.

Busting pupils with his sneakers, and breaking ankles with his handles, Kyrie Irving’s debut for the Brooklyn Nets saw the 6'2 livewire drop a record–breaking 50 points against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Ice in his veins and rainbows on his feet, Kyrie’s sneaker journey has been as kaleidoscopic as his on–court attitude. Classics like the ‘SpongeBob’ Kyrie 5, ‘Wheaties’ Kyrie 4 and ‘Mamba Mentality’ Kyrie 3 have made him one of the most significant players in the sneaker game since Michael Jordan.

To celebrate the release of 11 city–inspired versions of the Nike Kyrie 6, we linked up with Ben Nethongkome, Senior Footwear Designer at Nike, to chat about the importance of staying ‘woke’, why his team took cues from Nike SB, and how Uncle Drew plans to break down walls with the Kyrie 6 ‘Berlin’.

Tell us about your background. How did you become interested in sneaker design?

My interest in design really came from growing up. Back in the 1990s, basketball was big in my life. Loving the culture of basketball, art and hip hop led me to sneakers. As you get older, you go to art school, you go to college, and you discover there’s such a thing as footwear design. But it was childhood memories of collecting and wanting shoes that ultimately led me to Nike.

How did you end up designing for Kyrie Irving?

I was interning at Nike back in 2008. My dream has always been to design a signature shoe for Nike basketball. I worked in a category called ‘the innovation kitchen’, and from there I focused primarily on basketball innovation with blue-sky ideas and blue-sky projects. I then moved to a category called ‘core performers’, where we focused on entry price-point products. So, I went from really pie–in–the–sky ideas to very price-focused items from like $65–$100. From that experience I gained access to work with athletes like Kobe Bryant and LeBron James. I was able to display my skills of thinking large and thinking really innovatively – that ultimately led to work with Kyrie Irving.

What does the collaborative process look like between you and Kyrie?

We’re just two creatives talking about our passion and sharing what we like about certain items. For example, he’ll come to me and say: ‘There’s this colour that I like that Michael Jordan once wore with the Air Jordan 11 ‘Bred’. Can we look at how we can draw inspiration from that?’ Then we’ll mock up some ideas and we’ll text it to him or show him. For Kyrie, the designs weren’t strictly about the ‘Bred’ colourway, but what it meant to the Jordan line. What he really wants is deeper connections to Michael through the designs.

What kind of conceptual and practical ideas did Kyrie bring to the table for the 6?

We wanted to zig from the 5. The 5 was focused on communicating and telegraphing the performance benefits. For the 6, we wanted to zag, taking this Nike SB approach where it’s high-performance, but also has a more casual approach on what high-performance looks like. What if we infused a more lifestyle approach to a high-performance basketball shoe? What would that look like? That was our initial inspiration for the 6. We looked at the lineage of Nike SB and how they’re revered as collectable items – how do you achieve that with modern technology and innovation? He asked us to modify the shoe so that is has less of a high-performance visual. How does Nike SB do that? Skaters have to perform, but they’re not wearing a sneaker that looks like they’re going to fly off to the moon. We’re in communication with SB right now to talk about partnerships and working on things together for some time in the near future.

How are you looking to tell a story with the Kyrie 6 ‘Berlin’?

Kyrie has recently become an art collector. He has art that he's been purchasing on the side and has on display in his house. We had this conversation about why he loves art. He felt like it wasn’t about the art’s monetary value, but its message. The Berlin Wall obviously has this cultural impact that he liked. So we took graffiti from the wall, and we made an image collage and plastered it on this iridescent, image-shifting panel.

How did you decide on the colour palette?

We draped the shoe primarily in red and pink. The red colour symbolises action, confidence and courage. Those are the messages he wants to portray with the Kyrie 6 ‘Berlin’. He also feels like he’s extra-fast on court with red shoes on. He calls them his ‘dancing shoes’.

Is the all–seeing eye connected to this idea of healing the world?

In short, it’s like saying ‘woke’. Just be more aware of what’s going on, and sharing ideas, as opposed to hiding them. Be more open, do your research, talk amongst each other. Don’t just believe everything you see. Those are messages he’s been trying to portray since the Kyrie 4, the 5, and now the 6.

I wanted to drill down into some of the more material and technical changes you made with the Kyrie 6. You’ve described Kyrie as both predictable and unpredictable, ‘kind of like a pinball’. What technical challenges does that present when you’re designing a shoe for such a unique player?

From a technical standpoint, we always have to factor in that when you play basketball, you can’t predict what will happen on the court. He’s always ahead of the curve with the way he moves. Kyrie’s strength and conditioning team always challenges us to make sure that he has just the right amount of support for every situation. We don’t skimp on support. We don’t skimp on any sort of design details that keep him on the court. We want to be sure that he’s always ready for a heavy game. We look at things that’ll keep him quick on his toes, and allow him to move freely. We don’t want to be the reason why he can’t outperform his opponent.

How important is comfortability in a basketball shoe?

Kyrie wore a lot of Air Jordan 2s in high school. The collar foams and the way they were so plush along the ankle area really gave him confidence to play hard on the court. We investigated the Air Jordan 2s, what type of collar foam we used back then, and what kind of density we used for those foams. Then we look at the modern take on that foam package and how we can use it for today’s basketball shoes.

The toe box has also been built–up?

If you ever get a chance to see still images of Kyrie playing, you can see that sometimes he makes the cut, and the way he rotates and bends his leg, his toe is literally upside down, and his toenails can be scraping the floor. So we added the idea of traction 360. I was inspired by some of the global football equipment, where there’ll be shinguards added for added protection, but also ball control. So we took that idea and showed Kyrie. We asked him, ‘How would you feel if we wrapped your rubber outsole more on top of the toe, versus just on the bottom of your outsole?’ He was into it because it gave him this advantage that other shoes can’t. And so, with it, he just feels more natural, more connected to the court, especially when he’s on those crazy degrees when he’s making those cuts.

The toe strap hasn’t been seen since the Kyrie 2. What made you want to revisit the concept?

We looked at the Presto cage, and how it looks on the medial side. It continues all the way from the upper to the outsole, so the cage can wrap further into the midfoot arch. We took that idea and reverse engineered. When the player puts the strap on, it feels like they’re getting this support that you normally don’t experience from a basketball strap. He wanted the look of an OG Nike model, but with a modern flair.

What does the future look like for the Kyrie Irving signature line?

We just had a hell of a summer with the ‘SpongeBob’ collection, and people are still hitting me up like crazy for a pair of Kyrie 2s. We still have a lot more 5s coming out, so there’s some good energy to cap off that chapter. And then, of course, we’ll start on the 6, creating the chase in 11 different cities. Kyrie’s already got some ideas for the 6, 7 and 8, so that’s what we’re getting after. That’s the next move right now. We’re even looking at some really blue-sky concepts for the 9. It’s going to be wild to see how it all comes alive.