BUMPs Weekly Roundup

When the guys approached me to see if I’d be interested in writing a regular column for the new site I couldn’t say no, so here begins my weekly round up of what’s going on in the streetwear/sneaker community…

It’s been a busy week with all eyes on the Long Beach Convention Centre for the annual ComplexCon weekend. Only in its third year, Mark Ecko’s ambitious plan to bring the streetwear, sneaker and HipHop communities together under one (enormous aircraft hanger style) roof, seems to be paying dividends with record attendances and media coverage. The big brands have already tapped into this opportunity by unveiling and releasing specific limited edition products at the event. This year saw Vans collaborate with NASA, Champion hook up with Timberland and Drake’s OVO label partner with Japanese artist Takashi Murakami. Adidas utilized augmented reality technology to bring out new colorways of their Pharrell Williams N*E*R*D NMD and Pusha T’s EQT x Cushion 2, with both the superstar StarTrak producer and his former Clipse protege in attendance to talk with fans and the media. With the Stripes focusing on futuristic looking running shoes, the Swoosh looked to the past with two old classics. Firstly was a low-key drop of the 2001 iconic Cocoa Snake Air Force 1, the cult favourite originally released for the Japanese market in 2001 and then rereleased in 2006. The more high profile release however was the welcome return of Nick Tershay’s Diamond Dunk SB. Having first released as part of the ‘Team Manager Series’ in 2005 (then rereleased as a high top version in 2014), the Diamond Dunk SB combined luxurious materials with a striking colour palette to become one of the most sought-after sneakers of the time.

For the new release, Tershay unveiled a trio of luxury themed Dunks — the Black Diamond has the widest release, the White Diamond will only be available in skate stores (as a nice throwback to the original Nike SB distribution model) and the highly limited Yellow Diamond intended as a ComplexCon exclusive. Unfortunately a lethal combination of hype, greed and lack of well mannered behavior meant the release quickly turned into chaos and the drop was shut down with the LBPD escorting the shoes off the premises. Look out for these unsold canary yellow skate shoes at Diamond’s pop-up store in downtown LA this weekend but with only 150 pairs available you’re most likely already outta luck!

While SB mania was taking over Southern California, over on the East Coast a new Nike silhouette made its debut on the hardwood of Brooklyn’s Barclays Center. Houston Rockets forward (and notorious sneakerhead) P.J. Tucker took on the Nets wearing the first on-court public outing of the Nike F.O.G. This shoe is the debut sneaker collaboration from Jerry Lorenzo’s Fear Of God label since quitting his partnership with Vans to team up with Nike. The shoe already divides opinion but is certainly an imposing new model from Lorenzo and fits perfectly with his grunge-meets-urban aesthetic. Whereas designers like Virgil Abloh, Riccardo Tisci and Kim Jones have been given free rein to reimagine existing Nike shoes, Lorenzo has been blessed with the honor of designing his own model. The high-top boot features a mesh upper, suede accents, a ‘90s-esque side cage and an awesome visible air unit not unlike the classic Air Max180. Rumor has it the designer kicks with come with a designer $395 price tag when they release next month.

Sticking with the Swoosh, Nike announced “The Week Of Ones” via their infuriating SNKRS app. Alongside the release of the PSG and ‘Not For Resale’ AF1s, the 5 day promo also brings back some Jordan favorites such as the Shadows and Royals.

Adidas meanwhile drop the aforementioned Pharrell NMDs, a new collab with LA’s Undefeated boutique and a third restock of the Zebra Yeezy Boost 350 V2 — “Yeezys for everyone” apparently!

In other news, this week saw the opening of a Los Angeles location for Rei Kawakubo’s multi-brand retailer Dover Street Market, Reebok signed an endorsement deal with Cardi B, Travis Scott was announced as the new face of Saint Laurent, New York’s Supreme collaborated with visionary British filmmaker Chris Cunningham and Palace opened their third retail outlet with an impressive store in Tokyo’s Shibuya neighborhood.

Speaking of Palace, the London skate rats pulled off the unthinkable by collaborating with the brand who never does collaborations — Polo Ralph Lauren. Such an important project deserves more than just a footnote in this article, so I’ll be going deeper into that next week…

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