Field Guide XL — CL 30th Anniversary Collabs
To celebrate the 30th Anniversary of the Classic Leather, Reebok Classics pulled out all the stops by collaborating with global Stores, Artists and Journalists to create some of the finest – and memorable – makeups of this legendary shoe.
Retrobok has pieced together every single collobaration, all available data, and shoe closeups for reference.
It’s been one hell of a year, so let’s get started … 
Corrections welcomed. Many image resources used within
this article are via Hypebeast, and are used with respect.
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January 26th: Sneakersnstuff (SNS), Sweden
Base shoe — Classic Leather R12 / Colours — Symphony Blue, Tin Grey / Details — Fleece lined, with Cordura, PlayDry and Thinsulate for cold weather use. Union Jack colours amended to Swedish Flag colouring / Code — V47079
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February 28th: Salong Betong, Sweden
Base shoe — Classic Leather Lux / Colours — Black, Black, White / Details — Brogue detailing, featuring tumbled leather and oiled nubuck. / Code — TBC
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March 2nd: Burn Rubber, USA – ‘Spirit of Detroit’
Base shoe — Classic Leather Lux / Colours — / Details — Colourway inspired by the ‘Spirit of Detroit’ statue. ‘God’ and ‘Family’ embossed on alternate heel counters. / Code — V45442
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March: Planet Funk, Italy
Base shoe — Classic Leather R12 / Details — Note the Flight Case is not included / Code — TBC
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March 16th: Frank the Butcher, USA
Base shoe — Classic Leather R12 / Colours — Khaki, Oyster, Navy / Details — The design has ’emphasis on making the shoe look “faster,” color blocking is used to give the sneaker the appearance of leaning forward — as seen in the navy heel portions of the cap and outsole’ / Code — V47584
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March 23rd: Packer, USA
Base shoe — CL Vintage / Colours — / Details — Colourway inspired by the OG Aztec runner from 1979 / Code — TBC
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April: MITA, Japan
Base shoe — Classic Leather R12 / Colours — Chino, Navy, Creme, White / Details — Features pig suede, blue Chambray, Terry lining and a glow-in-the-dark upper with Sun and Moon details, insole features a wire mesh pattern based on the Mita store itself. / Code — V48193
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April: Fisz, Poland
Base shoe — Classic Leather R12 / Colours — Poland, Black, Grey, Geranium / Details — Embroidered logo on heel counter. Possibly the rarest of the CL 30th Anniversary collaborations?… and possibly only sold in Poland. / Code — V48554
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May 25th: Solebox, Berlin, Germany – ‘Sturnella Militaris’
Base shoe — Classic Leather Lux / Colours — Grey, Carotene, Black, White / Details — Colourway inspired by the ‘Sturnella Militaris’ (Red-breasted Blackbird) / Code — V51810
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July 1st: City Classics, Stash #1
Base shoe — Classic Leather R12 / Colours — Ultramarine, Navy, Grey / Details — Embroidered ‘Stash’ tag on heel counter, Included 2 pairs of laces (Grey, Navy) / Code — V54166
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July 1st: City Classics, Stash #2
Base shoe — Classic Leather R12 / Colours — Red, Steel, Black, Carbon / Details — Embroidered ‘Stash’ tag on heel counter. / Code — V54169
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July 1st: City Classics, Stash #3
Base shoe — Classic Leather R12 / Colours — Grey, Steel, Black, Gum / Details — Embroidered ‘Stash’ tag on heel counter. / Code — V56035
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July: City Classics, Moscow (Sick Systems)
Base shoe — Classic Leather R12 / Code — V54873
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July: City Classics, Los Angeles (Eklips)
Base shoe — Classic Leather R12 / Code — V54878
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July: City Classics, Philadelphia (Mad)
Base shoe — Classic Leather R12 / Code — V54885
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July: City Classics, Tokyo (Rimo)
Base shoe — Classic Leather R12 / Code — V54872
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July: City Classics, New York (Wane)
Base shoe — Classic Leather R12 / Code — V54880
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July: City Classics, Chicago (Pose)
Base shoe — Classic Leather R12 / Code — V54875
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July: City Classics, Atlanta (Totem)
Base shoe — Classic Leather R12 / Code — V54876
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July: City Classics, Mexico City (XGHETTO666)
Base shoe — Classic Leather R12 / Code — V54871
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July 12th: Palace Skateboards, London, UK
Base shoe — Classic Leather R12 / Colours — / Details — Paris Runner inspired colourway, engineered mesh underlays, nubuck overlays, embossed Palace logo on heel, branded Palace laces, custom footbed, insoles designed by Fergadelic / Code — V53511
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July 12th: Palace Skateboards, London, UK
Base shoe — Classic Leather R12 / Colours — Black, Tin Grey, Gum / Details — Engineered mesh underlays, nubuck overlays, embossed Palace logo on heel, branded Palace laces, custom footbed. / Code — TBC
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July 13th: Highs and Lows, Perth, Australia – ‘CTM/Roast Green Coffee’
Base shoe — Classic Leather Lux / Colours — Forest Green, Coffee Roast, Gum / Details — Inspired by the interior of the HAL store / Code — TBC
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August: Livestock, Vancouver, Canada
Base shoe — Classic Leather Lux / Colours — Livestock, Black, Gem, Yellow / Details — / Code — V53883
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August 3rd: Hanon, UK ‘Aberdeen Leopards’
Base shoe — Classic Leather Lux / Colours — Creme, Gold, Red. / Details — Premium suede uppers, dual-branded tongue label, terry-cloth lining, ‘hidden details’. / Code — V53108
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August 10th: Atmos, Japan
Base shoe — Classic Leather Mid R12 / Colours — Matte Grey, Jungle Camo, White Speckle / Details — Matte upper, glow-in-the-dark mesh panelling, speckled midsole, camo toe-box. / Code — V54294
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September 20th: Limited Edt., Singapore
Base shoe — Classic Leather R12 / Colours — Black, Sea Glass, Super Pink, Med Grey / Details — Dual snakeskin print upper, glow-in-the-dark semi-translucent outsole, glow-in-the-dark tongue, reflective details, PlayDry™ lining, pink spare laces. 2013 is year of the snake, which is the inspiration for this bold design. ‘JAM design’ (Jonning Chng, Alvin Huang, Mandeep Chopra). / Additional info — ‘The original concept for this shoe was to have the upper gradually shed it’s skin like a snake, however this was very hard/costly to manufacture so was dropped. / Code — V54705
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September 21st: BTNC, California, USA
Base shoe — Classic Leather Lux / Colours — Cafe Brown & Brown Malt / Details — Translucent ‘ice’ sole, orange lining. / Code — V53090
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October 19th: Crooked Tongues, UK, ‘Wannabe’
Base shoe — Classic Leather Lux / Colours — / Details — Premium ‘Snakeskin’ Leather, natural gum outsole, dual-branded tongue label, terry-cloth lining, and further ‘hidden details’. / Extra info — “The Crooked Tongues Reebok Classic Leather is a wannabe of sorts that pays tribute to the shoes we grew up with. Having grown up in the late 1990s era of “no trainers”, we thought we’d put the Patrick Cox Wannabe python loafer flavour onto a Classic, seeing as both were worn in the same era of British club culture. Premium leather, whited out lettering (in line with the white-on-white classicism of the shoe), some hidden details and two shades of gum on the sole make this an appropriately clean, but flamboyant, spin on one of our favourite shoes.” —Crooked Tongues. / Code — V59139
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October: Gary Warnett, UK
Base shoe — Classic Leather Lux / Colours — / Details — Embroidered prison arrows, transparent ‘ice’ outsole, leather upper, split colour cross-check.
“This take on the Reebok Classic pays tribute to its criminal past in the UK with an embroidered canvas that homages US and UK prison suits, arrows under the ice sole, a single metal eyelet on the right shoe tributing a borstal tattoo and a buttery tan leather, plus three sets of laces.” /
Code — V59333
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October: 3.V.0.7., Taiwan
Base shoe — Classic Leather R12 / Colours — Purple, Violet, Charcoal / Details — Translucent Ice sole, debossed Ostrich Leather and Denim upper, 3.V.0.7. branding, Gold debossed tongue. / Additional thoughts — So has this been a Taiwan-only release? Along with the Fisz shoe, this could be one of the rarest of this years collabs…. / Code — TBC
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October: Head Porter Plus, Japan, ‘Cheetah’
Base shoe — Classic Leather Vintage / Colours — Bone, Black / Details — Horsehair upper with Cheetah Print, Leather tongue label, leather lining, off-white midsole / Code — V54075
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November 16th: Bodega, Boston USA – ‘U.S.B.D.G.A.’
Base shoe — Classic Leather R12 / Colours — Fierce Gold, Ultramarine, Gum / Details — “Ten Star B” embossed on heel / Code — V53609
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November 23rd: Foot Patrol, London UK, ‘On the Rocks’
Base shoe — Classic Leather Mid R12 / Colours — Foot Patrol, Brown Malt, Primo Purple, Gravel / Details — Nubuck and mesh upper, D-ring lace loops, Thinsulate lining, 5 sets of hiking laces / Code — V53623
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November 30th: Shoe Gallery, USA, ‘Flamingos at War’
Base shoe — Classic Leather R12 / Colours — Pink, Camo / Details — Includes 3 laces / Code — TBC
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Posted on December 17, 2013, in Features, Newsfeed, Originals, Re-issues and tagged field guide, reebok classic 30th anniversary, Retrobok Field Guide. Bookmark the permalink. 1 Comment.
Back in the 90’s, I had a pair of white high top cross trainer shoes with a flat black sole. They had black polka dots on the top of the shoe and,I believe, a strip of dots on the side as well. They were my favorite shoes and the most comfortable shoe I have ever had in my life. I wore them until I wore a hole in the sole. I have looked for a pair like them, but have had no luck. I hope they make these again some day. I will be the first in line to buy a pair.