Eames x Reebok: Coloring Books & Rosewood & Elephants, Oh My!
This article was published on May 16 and updated on May 27.
Brand: Eames Office x Reebok
Model: Classic Leather
Release Date: June 2-21
Price: $120
Buy: Online at Eames Office and Reebok
Editor's Notes: For the next leg in their ongoing creative partnership, Eames' extensive, celebrated history takes Reebok's Classic Leather as canvas for a five-piece line-up of collectible sneakers.
When Eames' multi-project partnership with Reebok was announced last year, it's fair to say that it raised some eyebrows and plenty of questions. That's not to say that either brand's legacies were called into question or doubted; how could they be? The question, instead, lay in wondering what exactly a collaboration between a furniture powerhouse and a beloved sneaker brand would look like.
Once the teases passed and the first of several collections was thrust into the limelight, it became abundantly clear that the team-up was hitting the right trajectory to succeed in what it had set out to do – make Reebok sneakers just as collectible as Eames' treasured archive.
Each sneaker within the ongoing collection has been used to spotlight a key moment in Eames' history, beginning with several iterations of the classic Club C. and now extending to one of the brand's most timeless silhouettes in the Classic Leather.
Spring/Summer 2022's first collection is a five-piece offering that'll begin rolling out in early June with "The Coloring Toy."
Inspired by the Eames’ 1955 The Coloring Toy children’s coloring and construction kit, this release features bold black geometric patterns across a white leather upper and is subtly contrasted by a grey outsole, which is slated to drop exclusively from Eames on June 2, followed by a Reebok release on June 10.
The "Rosewood" iteration – which will touch down on June 9 at Eames and the following day at Reebok – takes inspiration from the Eames Lounge Chair and Ottoman and, as the name suggests, features a "Rosewood" woodgrain print.
The final release of the Classic Leather Collection is the three-piece "Elephant Pack" which houses a removable elephant face that shrouds the laces and geometric print tongue.
The elephant design itself dates back to the early 1940s to when Charles and Ray Eames created a two-piece plywood chair resembling the mammal for Charles' daughter Lucia.
Then in 2007, the Eames Elephant returned for a successful limited-edition release and soon after became a staple in the Eames portfolio.
Launching June 20 via Eames and the following day at Reebok, the "Elephant Pack" will arrive in "Poppy Red," "Ice Grey," and "Dark Lime."
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