QUICK TAKE:
adidas acquired Reebok in 2005 and both brands have had their shares of successes and struggles since then. adidas skyrocketed to the forefront of the footwear world with its BOOST technology and profitable collaborations with artists like Kanye West. Reebok has made wholesale brand changes, attempting to corner the crossfit market with a new logo and singular focus on fitness. However, the once dominant label returned to its roots in 2019, investing heavily into Reebok Classic and various retro designs in an effort to capitalize on the retro footwear bubble.
Now, for the first time, the sibling companies will collaborate and co-brand a sneaker, the Instapump Fury Boost. The new fusion model will debut in five different colorways, which will release over three drops through Fall/Winter 2019. Check out the details below.
DESIGN:
The Instapump Fury Boost serves as a tentative first foray into fusion footwear for adidas and Reebok. The unique Instapump model sees the upper totally untouched, with no added three stripes or new features- other than a co-branded band that wraps around the midfoot of the shoe. The original EVA foam midsole unit has been completely retooled, the original replaced by a fully loaded adidas BOOST base. Finally, the shoe is finished off with heel embroidery of the model name ‘Fury Boost’.
As mentioned before, the model will release in multiple different colorways over the next few weeks. The “Prototype” colorway will drop first at atmosCon on October 5th, in extremely limited quantities of only 50 units. This colorway features a white base with royal blue and orange overlays, finished off with a black cobranded band. Next the “OG Meets OG” pack will release on October 25 in Asia, and in select stockists on November 22. This pack, pictured below, pays homage to the OG adidas UltraBOOST and Instapump Fury colorways. One black and blue model honors the UltraBOOST, while the signature “Citron Yellow”and red adorns the other, just like the original. Finally, a monochromatic “Black and White” pack will finish the release schedule on December 6th.
ANALYSIS:
adidas and Reebok were admittedly conservative in their first collaborative project. In the case of the Instapump Fury, an eccentric, timeless model, this was necessary. The two brands took their greatest assets- Reebok’s unique retro model excitement and adidas’s BOOST technology- and mashed them together to get the best of both worlds. adidas has done it before with its classic models, like the Stan Smith, which has added a BOOST sole of its own. Other brands have attempted to fuse their own models, and failed -think about the endless Air Jordan Fusions, many of which are ugly- but it is important to note that although you lose some of the unique details of the OG Instapump, BOOST is just as aesthetically peeling, and definitely more comfortable in this newly fused model.
The most exciting part of this release is what it could hold for the future. This is the first time adidas and Reebok have crossed company lines to work with each other, despite having the same ownership. Nike, which bought Converse in 2003, has similarly added Nike Air, Flyknit, and other proprietary technologies to Converse models, but generally in a covert fashion- primarily adding Nike Zoom Air insole units to many of the CONS shoes, etc. Could adidas and Reebok’s open co-branding lead to more projects in the future for the two brands? Will Nike and Converse respond with their own mash-up? Could we see a legitimate release of the bootlegged Chinatown Market Chuck Taylor with a Swoosh? If received well, there is a chance that we see a new era of internal collaboration from our favorite brands.
RELEASE INFORMATION:
The “Prototype” colorway will drop first at atmosCon on October 5th, in extremely limited quantities of only 50 units. Next the “OG Meets OG” pack will release on October 25 in Asia, and in select stockists on November 22. Finally, a monochromatic “Black and White” pack will finish the release schedule on December 6th.
Kickbeast 