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The collab scene is cluttered. Stories are told, sold, made and relayed more than most care to hear and as of late more than most care to wear. With too many pairs to collect or keep up with, how does a company come in and earn respect?
Answer: By making a shoe you can actually do something in.
Such is the case for the ICNY x PUMA Ignite, a retooled take on a modern runner that is actually built for its intended task. While the white upper, slight speckling and gum sole play to a Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough colorway, the shoe is less Ben & Jerry’s and more up and at ’em, carrying the casual cool but made to move balance ICNY owns.
In the space of streetwear, function has always been the calling card for ICNY. Rooted in cycling, skate and just plain doing stuff, they’ve taken 3M from lazy attention getter back to active and aware in the same manner Future perfected autotune after its commercial climax. Simply put, ICNY understands the appeal of 3M but doesn’t forget its function. This carries over to collabs as seen on their paring with PUMA.
“A lot of people are just trying to take the heritage [models] and nobody’s really stepping outside of that,” ICNY founder and designer Mike Cherman explains. “In the running world, you don’t really see that many [modern] running sneaker collaborations. For me on this Ignite shoe, I was just excited about the actual technology and what this shoe was.”
While function is still the focus, with stripped down layers and material swaps guiding such path (Cherman cites STAMPD’s work with PUMA as a great example of adapting structure though collaboration) casual wearability is not neglected. Once again, it’s a balance.
“I just wanted to make a shoe that could be worn as lifestyle, but is still inherently a running shoe. That’s the whole goal with all of this stuff. For any project we work on, I want the shoe to be functional.”
In this case, the function lends to the lifestyle and perhaps puts a little more liveliness in it. Cherman feels the balance of performance and flash lends to active life without slacking on cool points.
“A lot of these kids need to believe that they can run and not feel like a dweeb doing it,” Cherman states. While his background is in cycling, he’s been putting miles in this cookie dough collab, getting into running as of late.
He hopes other wearers do the same.
Consisting of “Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough” and “Mint Chocolate Chip” colorways, the ICNY x PUMA Ignite “Ice Cream” Pack launches globally on September 5th at PUMA stores and select sneaker boutiques.
