Kicks 4 Da Kulture

By Jose Rozay

Welcome back Happymunkey Fam, we enter this new year with good vibes by leaving the past behind and welcoming the future with open arms. For the January edition of Kicks 4 the Kulture, I am taking things to the luxurious level. In this issue, I will highlight the best luxury footwear collaborations ever released in past years by high fashion brands. I will in addition, highlight the fashion leaders who have been so blessed to have worked alongside a luxurious high fashion brand, because we all know it's not just anyone that is chosen to collaborate with a luxury brand especially on a shoe. In the music industry there are many fashionably creative artists without a doubt, but there are a few of them that separate themselves from the fashion rules and have a large following of fans merely because of their sense of style.

Kid Cudi x Giuseppe Zanotti Released 2015.

Guisseppe Zanotti released the Spring/Summer 2015 collection with a new sneaker design inspired by Kid Cudi’s sense of style. The designer was inspired by Kid Cudi’s energy, great artistry, and amazing vibes. The designer and Kid Cudi soon got together to share ideas and visions of the sneaker that was going to embody Kids Cudi’s style. The sneaker design turned out to be very futuristic, which goes hand in hand with Cudi’s futuristic style. The sneaker was constructed with a butter soft leather upper and white midsole. In addition to the good quality leather, the sneaker featured no laces, instead had two Velcro straps that made the silhouette unique and futuristic. It’s difficult to find the first two original colorways nowadays, but you still can find new colorways of the silhouette that were released in recent months.

Pharell x Chanel x Adidas NMD Released 11/25/2017.

In 2017, recording artist and fashion guru Pharrell Williams designed a unique sneaker with Adidas named the adidas Pharrell NMD human race. Although Pharrell and Adidas had a successful campaign with the Pharrell NMD kicks selling out in nearly every color released, Pharrell Williams had one more surprise for the world. Pharrell Williams has held a long-lasting relationship with Luxury brand Chanel, in which he is the only recording artist to have his own capsule collection with the fashion house. Knowing he had an honorable relationship with Chanel and that he possibly was the only artist that can make a collaboration with the high fashion brand. Pharrell Williams went ahead and made a collaboration sneaker between Chanel, Adidas, and himself. The sneaker was produced with the same Adidas NMD silhouette except it had “CHANEL” text on one side and “Pharrell” on the other, finalized with the signature “CC” logo on the heel. The sneaker was instantly a must buy due to the hype surrounding the sneaker and the fact that there were only 500 pairs produced and released in Europe. The sneaker at the time retailed for 1 thousand dollars and nowadays resold for up to 15 thousand dollars.

Kanye West x Louis Vuitton sneaker collection Released 7/1/2009.

Kanye West was blessed to be able to release a whole collection of sneakers with High fashion giant Louis Vuitton. Kanye West’s initial dream job was to be the head creative director of Louis Vuitton, so when he was able to work with the high fashion brand on the sneaker collection, the collaboration basically marked Kanye’s entry into the world of Luxury high fashion. The collection consisted of three different models and ten colorways all together. Slight variations can be found from one shoe to the next from the materials, to the laces, to the color blocking. There were two specific colorways that people fell in love with. The Louis Vuitton Jasper in Pink and Grey and the Louis Vuitton Dons in all red were the highly coveted pairs. All the sneaker colorways released in Kanye’s x Louis Vuitton collection all resell for about 6 thousand dollars the least. The “Louis Vuitton Don” has since become a recognizable name in the sneaker industry after working with Nike as well as Adidas, and eventually launching his own Yeezy shoe line. Colorway is released in the near future.

In conclusion, all three collaborations are legendary in their own way in history. All three collaborations showed us that even high-end fashion brands look for different inspiration and creativity from others to make the best possible product. These collaborations also marked a chance for other black recording artists and creatives in the industry to be able to work with other fashion brands in the future. Kanye West, Pharrell Williams, and Kid Cudi all showed us that anything is possible and your distinctive matter of expression to the world matters more than you can ever imagine. I am glad and lucky to have seen all these sneaker collabs release and even happier to witness the impact they had in the sneaker culture. Hope you enjoyed this luxurious issue of kicks 4 the Kulture, until next time Happymunkey Fam, Happy new years and, stay happy.