Alien Stomper ‘Final Battle Pack’ – interview with Chris Hill
Highsnobiety chatted with Reebok Senior Designer Chris Hill about the process behind the designs for this unique, and highly limited pack.
50 pre-sale packs will be available tomorrow (17/7) at Reebok FitHub in New York City, with 7 limited T-Shirt designs available, and Alien ‘Pins’ with purchases.
Global release is on 18/7 – the 31st anniversary of the 1986 Aliens movie – from Reebok.com and Reebok Certified Network stores, priced at US$325.
Reebok Alien Stomper official page
Pump Fury & Furylite ‘Triple Scoop’
Super-fun summer makeup of the legendary Pump Fury and its incredibly successful (and quite brilliant) modern update the Furylite. Featuring a drip/dipped treatment of mint green, strawberry pink and chocolate brown, with a waffle cone heel effect these are heaps of fun.
I’ve kept my love for the incredibly wearable Furylite a little bit quiet here on Retrobok; if you don’t own a pair I can’t recommend them highly enough – even if an Ice Cream makeup isn’t quite your thing 😉
Can’t see these Triple Scoops on sale as yet but I believe they’re slated for sale through Reebok stores themselves. Hit the jump for more photos. -BokOne Read the rest of this entry
Quick visit to Reebok Classic store in Harajuku, Tokyo
Retrobok dropped in secretly to check out the small but very neat store in Tokyos’ fashionable Harajuku district. Very busy so photos weren’t practical this time, but check out their website here. こんにちは! -BokOne
Club C 85 ELM “Element Pack”
Firstly, apologies for lack of activity on Retrobok – I’ve recently relocated to Tokyo so will attempt to increase activity over the coming few months, possibly with a little more Asian markt insight.
There have been quite a few Club C 85 makeups released over the last few months; testament to the shoes’ timelessness, clean lines and the supple comfort of a Terrycloth lining. I have a few pairs and they’re regular go-to’s for urban/daily wear.
The ‘Element Pack’ (aka ELM) includes 3 subtle tonal pastel makeups with the 3 colourways being titled ‘Seaside Grey’, ‘Porcelain Pink’ and ‘Fresh Blue’ and are currently available from stores such as Overkill (Germany), Titolo (Switzerland), and End (UK / Australia and – yes, US friends, the USA!). -BokOne
Incoming — Alien Stomper “Final Battle” Pack, July 18
I must be honest: if somebody had told me Reebok were releasing another set of Alien Stompers for Alien Day; but with completely new makeups that were not accurate to the original movie props, I’d have groaned quite loudly. But these… these are just a lot of fun.
Clearly a ridiculous amount of effort has gone into the details here; one pair represents Ripley in her bright yellow Caterpillar P-5000 Work Loader (notice the subtle P5000 debossed on the strap), and the other representing ‘the Alien’ – more officially known as Xenomorph XX121.
So many details I’ll leave you to discover for yourself (although one I want to share is Weyland-Yutani corporation earning itself a new HQ location; that of Canton – the current Reebok global HQ).
Available July 18th (Alien Day) slated at $325, which I believe includes 2 pairs of shoes in the presentation box (but I will need to confirm).
Hit the jump for more photos, and curious teaser video. —BokOne Read the rest of this entry
DEAL x Instapump Fury “Tai Chi”
The Instapump Fury has never shyed away from bold colourways; but with more recent applications of block colours (the 2013 SNS ‘Popsicle’ springs to mind) and asymmetry, a new turf war on ‘most memorable Fury makeup’ seems to be on the cards.
These Yin-Yang inspired Furys by China-based DEAL will certainly be right up there, aided by what looks like a China-only release on 6th May (check out DEAL retailers and Shanghai-based WZK). Rather keen on these. Hit the jump for more images! -BokOne Read the rest of this entry
Reebok Spitfire advert, USA 1980/1981
Superb spot from Gary who notified Retrobok about this super-rare advert seen on eBay Canada.
Curious how contemporary the Spitfire appears in this circa 1980/1981 advert, as well as a few oddities within the content; I’m not sure how well-known and iconic the (British World War 2 era) Spitfire was to Americans (imagine an ‘American Running Shoe’ sold in the UK as a Corsair for example).
I’d also never heard of the ‘mummy’* lacing system before – and studying the advert carefully I’m not convinced it offers anything much as a sales feature!
Anyhow, great find. Thanks again to Gary for this spot; contributions are always appreciated! Image has been added to the 80’s Media Page. -BokOne
Buy the real advert at eBay Canada.
David Foster was kind enough to explain the mummy lacing system to Retrobok:
*the Mummy lacing system, refers to the BLUCHER style lacing system, which pulled the facing from further around the instep of the foot, wrapping the foot in the shoe upper, hence Mummy! it gave the shoe an unusual look and all our running shoes returned to an oxford style laced facing after this, with either Nylon speed lacing, AZTEC, Victory, etc,. or Gillie variable lacing from AZII onward. —David Foster
Interview — Judy Close, designer of Shaq Attaq, Pump Omni Zone, Blacktop series
2017 is the 25th anniversary of Reeboks’ legendary Shaq Attaq – the brands’ first official ‘signature shoe’ with Basketball star Shaquille O’Neal. Reebok are planning many retros of this shoe this year, with the ‘home’ OG slated to be the first.
But first here’s a superb interview by Zack Schlemmer over at Sneaker News with Judy Close – the designer of the legendary Shaq Attaq, Blacktop series and Pump Omni Zone – on both the design process and the man himself.
Hit that jump! —BokOne
Sneaker News — Interview — Judy Close, designer of Shaq Attaq
Fitness Heritage pack
Slipping under my radar – and with thanks to Le Site de la Sneaker for making me aware – the Fitness Heritage pack features full OG retros of the Freestyle and Workout Plus – 2 of Reebok Classics’ ‘Franchise 5‘ (the other 3 being Classic Leather, Ex-O-Fit, and NPC).
Le Site de la Sneaker broke the news, and included a little interview (translated to French) with Retrobok about some of the shoes’ history. The Fitness Heritage pack is available now from European stores (no sighting in the US, Asia or Australia as yet I’m afraid).
Hit the jump for more images and store links. With thanks to Romain at Le Site de la Sneaker. —BokOne Read the rest of this entry
Allen Iverson ‘A.I.’ book release and memorabilia @Bodega, January 13th~
On Friday, January 13th from 7pm-10pm A.I. by Gary Land, along with three limited release t-shirts will be available exclusively in-store at Series by Bodega, 184 Massachusetts Avenue Boston, MA. Series will remain open through Saturday (11am-6pm) and Sunday (12pm-6pm) with a selection of memorabilia from Allen Iverson’s Hall Of Fame career on display for the duration of the event.
Hit the jump for the remainder of the press release and sweet promo photos, and drop by Bodega in Boston MA if you can! Thanks to Bodega for getting in touch with this 🙂 —BokOne Read the rest of this entry
Instapump Fury Road ‘multi-camo’
Pretty damn wild makeup on these retros of the 1994 Instapump Fury Road, featuring not 1, not 2, but 5 different camo patterns. Great to see Reebok themselves stepping up their designs to match the more creative collabs of the last few years. Hit the jump for more images, and store links. -BokOne Read the rest of this entry
CONCEPTS x CHANEL… sorry, I mean CONCEPTS x Insta Pump Fury ;)
Very smart (or sneaky) move from CONCEPTS releasing this second colourway of the Insta Pump Fury, in Platinum ; an almost direct emulation of the legendary 1997 Chanel x Pump Fury. Hit the jump for more… Read the rest of this entry
Reebok Classic – Stockboy: Crossover
We take you behind the scenes of the worlds finest sneaker retailers, away from the shop floor, into the world of the Stockboy. He’s the guy (or girl) who’s got the lowdown on the latest release, who still gets the buzz from a fresh delivery and who lives an inspirational life outside of the day to day. In episode 8 of this series, in line with the release of their interpretations of the reworked Club C, Reebok and Crossover introduce us to 26 year-old Chris Tham.
Good to see another one of these from Reebok Classic, this being the seventh in the Stockboy series – these always offer an insightful and personal perspective. -BokOne
More soon!
Apologies for occasional updates here on Retrobok as family life has taken over recently; Hoping to return to normal shortly.
If you’re a keen Reebok collector and wish to feature in a Collectors Feature, please message Retrobok on Facebook. Thanks and happy holidays! -BokOne
The $1300 Alien Stomper
From their ‘Homage’ collection, borrowing the silhouettes and detailing from some of the sneaker world’s best loved designs, the Hender Scheme Manual Industrial Products 06 is a hand-made, stripped back version of a movie icon. Constructed with natural leather uppers that will patina and age unlike any other, this distinctive design features a double velcro closure and sits on top of a leather and rubber sole.
Wow. These are quite something, I suppose if Ripley was hitting a high-end Nightclub after a heavy day of bug-stomping, she may well consider a pair of these 😉 —BokOne
