When it comes to sneaker collaborations, artists and designers are often quick to jump at the chance to step into the arena with Nike or adidas. They are, after all, the obvious choices where scale and resources are concerned; they're the industry's biggest and most well-respected names, but they're not the be-all and end-all.

Having your name sit alongside Kanye "Ye" West, Pharrell, Pusha T, Sean Wotherspoon, and the like at Three Stripes is great, just as it is being mentioned in the same breath as Travis Scott or Billie Eilish in Nike and Air Jordan conversations, but what's even better, is carving out your own lane.

For multi-hyphenate Bronx-based creative Jae Tips, Saucony is where that separation, the freedom to carve your own narrative lives and breaths.

Taking a silhouette that's a testament to the popular retro styling that calls Saucony home and dialing it up to suit his personal aesthetics, Jae Tip created a sneaker that some are already touting as a sneaker of the contender.

"I wanted to create a shoe that was fun and expressive," Tips says. "I wanted it to be something that people would look at and smile."

There's no doubt that the resulting sneaker is expressive. The Grid Azura 2000, through Jae Tips, takes on a palette heavy on contrast, seeing bold pops of pink paired with deep purple, blue, orange, yellow, green, and white, giving depth and texture to the pattern work that fills the shoe's underlays.

While many continue to overlook Saucony, Jae Tips' work on the Grid Azura 2000 has proven that successful sneaker collaborations aren't exclusive to Nike and adidas – sometimes, the risk pays off.