The term “Survival of the Fittest” dates back to Charles Darwin’s theory of Natural Selection, and in today’s tough economic climate, who can deny that survival is the name of the game? Together, Akomplice and respected Chicago-based retailer Leaders 1354 have a combined 12 years in the industry, allowing them to build an understanding about what it takes to survive in this game. With that in mind, Akomplice have teamed up with Leaders 1354 to save the day by producing a stunning “Survival of the Fittest Pack” which includes an Akomplice x Leaders Swiss Army knife, an Akomplice x Leaders T-shirt, and a certificate of authenticity. The T-shirt features a Swiss Army knife-inspired design which highlights 10 qualities necessary for surviving life. And if you’ve watched MacGyver, you already know how crucial a pocket knife is in tough times. This one just happens to look really nice. Everything comes nicely packaged in a rope-bound black box. Limited to just 30 packs worldwide, this very special release will drop on May 23rd, at 12 noon, and is available exclusively at the Leaders Boutique in Chicago (1400 Milwaukee Ave). Later the same evening Leaders will also be hosting the official Akomplice Season 10 launch party too.

Take a detailed look at the t-shirt and the Swiss Army Knife from the Leaders 1354 x Akomplice “Survival Of The Fittest” Pack after the jump.

Leaders 1354 collaborated with Nike on the Huarache 2K8. The sneaker comes in a special all silver metallic make-up. Only 24 pairs of the sneaker were produced and given out to friends, family and valued customers.

“Our first thought when working with the 2K8 was making it jean friendly and giving it more of a high end appeal. We wanted people to have the same reaction when they saw a pair of polished calf skin Lanvin or Dior sneakers. From there we figured the colorway would have to be somewhat simple but yet still have that wow factor. After we settled on silver we tied it all in with one of the six liquid elements, Mercury.”

Yesterday the release took place at Leaders 1354 in Chicago. After the jump some images from the release event.

This coming weekend the Reebok “Leaders 1354 Jam” will be released, a collaboration with Chicago boutique Leaders 1354 on the Revers Jam.

“The “Leaders1354 Jam” draws inspiration from CTA (Chicago Tranist Authority) train system. Chicago operates around the red, blue, green, yellow, orange, purple, brown, and pink line trains so they’re all represented by the speckles. The red and blue line trains the cities major lines and both run close to both store locations (hence the two colorways). The transparent blue tinted outsole represents Lake Michigan with the Chicago Transit map can be seen through it.”

They will be releasing 75 pairs this coming Saturday, November 8th, along with matching t-shirts and New Era caps.

Take a detailed look at the Reebok “Leaders 1354 Jam” after the jump.

Chicago’s Leaders 1354 are releasing the latest pieces in a string of solid special editions on June 14th. So far they’ve impressed with their New Eras, and now they move to tees. For the artist series they’ve worked with four local (read Chicago) artists and printed their designs on two colors per artist. So, by match, that’s 4 new styles and 8 color choices. The material ranges from the classic hot girl with covered breasts to a great play on the winners medal. The latter should be a good look come Olympics time. Take a look at the Leaders site in the coming days for bios and info about each represented artist.
Check the remaining tees after the jump.

Chicago’s Leaders 1354 have announced the official release date of the Rebel New Era. Designed, no surprise, to match the Nike Air Tech Challenge II, the hat also plays with the “Image is Everything” Canon campaign that featured Andre Agassi in 1990. That hat is in store on May 2nd, and on the Web May 3rd. Retail is $48.

Reebok got together with Chicago boutique Leaders 1354 to collaborate on the Reverse Jams. Due to be released in April, the Reverse Jam comes in a grey colorway with silver accents and multicolor speckled sole. The see-through outer sole lets a Chicago map shine through. Via Complex.
Chicago’s transit system was the inspiration behind the “Leaders1354 Jam”. The red, yellow, blue, green, brown, orange, purple, and pink line trains are all represented. Crackle leather, perforated suede, ostrich, mettalic silver, 3M, and premium leather make up the “grey” train like shoe.

A map of the transit system can be seen through the transparent sole. There will be very limited pairs split up between the South Side and North Side locations. The South having red stripes representing the South Side’s Red line and the Blue Stripes for the North Side and the Blue line.
More pictures after the jump.

Leaders1354 from Chicago has an interesting New Era collaboration coming up. The store made a cap matching the Nike Air Tech Challenge and the outcome is great. Base color is grey of the cap, the embroideries and brim feature the familiar color fading just like on the sneaker. Unfortunately it will only release in April!