There’s a transition happening in the north of England, and it all began with a pair of Reebok Insta Pump Furys. Almost a year ago, END — a Newcastle-based shop known for its massive online presence, assortment of sneakers, and selection of high-end menswear — put out its first sneaker collaboration. It wasn’t a huge deal. The sneakers sold out, but it didn’t change the landscape of the boutique industry. Then something bigger happened: The shop released a burger-themed pair of Saucony Shadow 5000s and almost single-handedly made the brand relevant again in 2014. The response was major and the sneakers can now be found in eBay listings at upwards of $600.
When you look at the collab circuit, we have to raise the bar and it has to be more than just a color way on a shoe.
Since then, the retailer has remained mostly quiet on the collaboration front, but it’s looking to follow up the success of its previous projects with a different brand and inspiration. Images surfaced last week of a “Bluebird” Onitsuka Tiger Colorado 85, an energetic-looking runner with purple tiger stripes, a blue-suede upper, and white feather on the heel. END was back for its third sneaker collaboration, and it was looking to continue where it left off with the “Burgers,” this time hoping to make the product bigger and better.
“When you look at the collab circuit, we have to raise the bar and it has to be more than just a color way on a shoe,” Simon Lister, END’s Marketing Manager, says. “It should add value with things that people want to keep and cherish.”
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That’s the challenge END undertook when it collaborated with Onitsuka Tiger, a division of ASICS that has slowly started to gain acceptance within the core sneaker community. The shop just didn’t want to design an average sneaker, it wanted to put something out there that — like its previous work with Saucony -- would gain traction on the Internet, and a lot of it relied on how the sneaker was visually presented.
“I think there’s a perception that Onitsuka is only about the ‘Kill Bill’ shoes,” Lister says. “The imagery that we’ve put out is vibrant, and we tried to go away from what everybody else was doing. We wanted it to leap off of our Instagram feed and we were able to do that with a vibrant mixed media image.”
Selling the project to a sneaker community that’s currently inundated with collaboration after collaboration was END’s biggest challenge. The product itself had to be superior and worth people’s time, and it all began with the sneaker’s storyline, which is based off the silhouette’s name, the Colorado, and the state being home to three different bluebird species. “People will want our shoe not just because it’s a killer colorway, but because there are bits and pieces that are added to the overall presentation,” Lister says.
And he’s not wrong. Too many times, stores will either apply a meaningless color scheme to a sneaker and give it a nickname or have an in-depth tale and presentation that just doesn’t translate correctly to the chosen materials or silhouette. END. was able to meet somewhere in the middle. “I think themes are important, but they shouldn’t dictate the whole shoe. If you have a little bit of the story behind it, when it comes to the marketing and press, it makes it a bit easier,” Lister says.
It’s also the 30th anniversary of the Colorado 85, a celebration that made using this given a model an easier choice for the folks at END. The final results include special packaging, much like the shop’s two previous collabs, including custom boxes and "egg laces" and a special in-store event for those who can make it out to Newcastle this Thursday, March 5, from 6 to 9 p.m. GMT. Those who attend will be treated to beer from Asahi and dim sum to grub on. The online release will occur on Saturday, March 7. The retail price will be $129 and if END’s previous releases are an indicator, the “Bluebirds” might fly off the shelves.
Matt Welty is a staff writer at Complex and you can follow him on Twitter here.
