How Berlin Is Styling the Maison Margiela x Reebok ‘Memory Of’ Sneakers
Today marks the release of the long-anticipated Maison Margiela x Reebok The Question 'Memory Of' and Zig 3D Storm 'Memory Of'. We previously detailed the drop, but in short, the sneakers are stripped down and reconstructed versions of the originals. The Question is a rugged basketball hightop with a retro feel and chunky sole, while The Zig 3D Storm is a ghostly, almost phantomesque, runner with clean edges and geometric pads.
While the drops have a shared genealogy, they could not be more different, and yet they have a distinct familiarity. The spawn of Maison Margiela’s love affair with Reebok, elements of the luxury house which The Question + Zig 3D Storm have inherited make the shoes instantly distinguishable from previous generations.
Much like Maison Margiela’s Reebok collaboration, Berlin has a duality that makes it diverse, distinguishing it from any other city in the world. We linked up with BIPOLAR and ACTE, two collectives that represent diametrically opposed subcultures within the city’s creative network and paired them with The Question and The Zig 3D Storm respectively.
BIPOLAR – who perhaps understand this duplexity best – are cultural pioneers of the Berlin club scene, specifically establishing themselves as a production and arts platform versed in genres from techno and house to hip hop and trap – with side dishes of socio-critical commentary. They are raw, rough, and rebellious. In their own words, the collective is, “a state of mind that is not stable at all. It’s a matter of extremes – like the name, the concept is based on a connection of two poles.”
It was only natural that we equip BIPOLAR with The Question 'Memory Of'.
ACTE in stark contrast are surgical, clean, and minimal – they embody the essence of modern Berlin, their aesthetic reminiscent of the Bauhaus ideology that form follows function. Their work brews beneath the surface and while their forte is in refined commercial campaigns, ACTE aims to commit itself to utilizing art as a tool to reinforce society and have an approach that is highly intellectual in that they tend to say more by saying less.
Enter The Zig 3D Storm 'Memory Of'.
Berlin is a city of contradictory and yet interrelated correlations, and just like Berlin, aspects of the Maison Margiela x Reebok collaboration may not be for everyone, but there can be no doubt that the release will achieve maximum appeal to those for whom it was intended.
