The Sneaker Drop: Four Of August 2020’s Most Anticipated Releases

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The Sneaker Drop: Four Of August 2020’s Most Anticipated Releases

Words by Mr Jim Merrett

6 August 2020

Peak summer is usually a time associated with kicking off sneakers in favour of open-toed footwear such as sandals and pool slides. Of course, your vacation in 2020 is unlikely to be conventional. Perhaps the same should apply to your shoes. Below are four new models due to land on MR PORTER this month, ranging from reimagined reissues of cult classics to sci-fi sneakers from the furthest reaches of Mr Kanye West’s mind. Release dates may be subject to change, so keep a keen eye trained on MR PORTER’s What’s New section of you’d like to cop a pair of these sought-after kicks.

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01. Chuck 70 Ox by Moncler X Fragment

Mr Hiroshi Fujiwara, the man behind the fragment design imprint, is no stranger to the Converse Chuck Taylor All Star. Having also worked with parent brand Nike (his 2017 take on the Air Force 1 is rumoured to finally be seeing the light of day soon, along with his Jordan Brand Air Cadence), the man known as the “godfather of streetwear” has turned out several interpretations of the iconic canvas basketball shoe over the past few years. This time out, he brings another familiar name, Moncler, into the mix (“Chuck, have you met Moncler?”). His pared-back sensibilities are well suited to the shoe; the monochrome palette emphasised with white stitching, midsole and toecap against the black canvas and rubber trim.

02. 992 by New Balance X JJJJound

In the decade or so since Montreal-based designer Mr Justin Saunders set up his influential design blog JJJJound, it has morphed first into an Instagram mood board and, from the mid-2010s, a design studio in its own right. Pushing a minimalist but elevated aesthetic, it has been making deceptively simple real-world products for a while now. But it is also a collaborative force. Here, the studio partners again with New Balance – having first linked up with the sneaker brand in 2018 – taking on its modern-classic 992. Originally introduced to celebrate the sportswear brand’s centenary, the 992 in itself distils the essence of New Balance’s branch of quietly assured dad shoes. JJJJound’s take, available in suitably tasteful grey and green colourways, takes it up a notch – although without making too much noise, obviously.

03. Paris (City Series) by adidas Originals

Back in the 1970s and 1980s, German sportswear giant adidas embarked on something of a European-wide tour, taking in 24 cities across the continent and divvying out a shoe, with a unique colourway, for each. Last year, its City Series saw a revival with the reissue of the original Brussels model. Following pitstops in Oslo, London and Amsterdam, among others, the jaunt winds up in Paris once more, with a return for the classic model reconstructed in homage to the City of Light. The colourway is a nod to the French Tricolore; the silhouette, meanwhile, is similar to the recent Dublin reissue (and its twin city Liverpool offshoot), but with leather uppers rather than suede, not to mention a stripped-back tongue and off-white, non-gum sole. Aside the vivid red stripes, external branding is conspicuously minimal, with only the adidas trefoil on the heel. The perfect shoe for flâneurs in the city.

04. Yeezy 700 V3 Arzareth by adidas Originals

From Paris to a land far, far away. Named for the distant region, by contemporary standards, on the other side of the Euphrates river, and with an architecture that is no less out-there, Mr Kanye West’s latest design somehow manages to fuse the biblical with the biomorphic. The colourway sees a shift from the earthy tones that have characterised recent Yeezy releases to an aquatic blue, held together by a glow-in-the-dark translucent rubber cage. After all, these are shoes to be noticed in – even in poor light conditions. This new model features a Primeknit construction, with an EVA foam sole unit for further cushioning. That said, stepping out of your comfort zone seems to be the game plan here.

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