In the past, Reebok and BOTTER’s collaborations have been a wild journey into the future of footwear, complete with 3-D printed fabrics and outlandish slides.
Their latest link-up, though, is more focused on looking at the past.
Shown at Paris Fashion Week on January 17, BOTTER’s FW24 collection presented its latest pieces with the sportswear label and explores the history between street football and Caribbean culture.
Worn on foot for most of the looks were vintage football boots stacked on top of dress shoes and new takes on the Reebok Energia Bo Két.
The latter is a flappy-tongued silhouette (shown on the runway last season but yet to show up on shop floors) that utilizes features from football boots to create sneakers — continuing a trend that’s gaining momentum.
With its asymmetric lacing system, fold-over tongue, and sporty materials, the shoe looks a lot like football boots from the early 2000s, such as the adidas Predator which has recently made a retro-inspired comeback.
This is not the only example where old football boots have been turned into sneakers lately, they follow up from notable releases such as the Acne Studios Boltzer that looks suspiciously like Nike’s Total 90 football boots or the PUMA x FENTY Avanti which is inspired by the PUMA King boot.
While the adidas Samba, an indoor football shoe first used in the ‘50s, has dominated the fashion industry over the past couple of years, the latest development in fashion’s football obsession is from a more recent era.
Growing up in the UK, pairing astroturf football boots and casual trousers was a cardinal fashion sin but it looks set to return. Now, with Reebok and BOTTER on board, it only adds weight to the redemption of the oft-ridiculed pairing.
Not only coming together to create sneakers, the collaboration (which is curated by the brand’s new premium line, Reebok LTD.) also features clothing and accessories.
In keeping with the football theme, a long-sleeved shirt that looks as though it has been taken straight off a goalkeeper in the ‘70s was featured with Reebok’s logo front and center.
Meanwhile, items like a Cordura football bag and a striped nylon tracksuit helped to round out the theme.
When blokecoke started doing the rounds on TikTok many people questioned whether this football-inspired trend really had any legs. Now, a few years later, collections like this one prove how many different topics there are to explore within the beautiful game.
