The Most Outrageous, Over-The-Top Sneaker Collaborations Ever

This article was originally published on July 9, 2021.

Sneaker culture can more or less be boiled down to a never-ending game of one-upmanship. The rarest sneakers or most OG pairs – even just plain fresh colourways – can only get you so far over your peers. At some point in time, let’s say the early 2000s, as collaborations ramped up in frequency, so did the occasional levels of ridiculousness in a bid to out-weird each other. Here are some of the most over-the-top sneaker collaborations that were just that bit extra.

Cardi B’s Mouthy Reebok Packaging

Reebok, currently a subsidiary of adidas (but perhaps not for much longer), took a leaf out of their parent company’s seeding playbook and emulated a similarly OTT rollout for their own popstar endorsee Cardi B. The WAPper sent out pairs of her Club C Cardi colab to celeb friends and influencers by way of a custom box shaped like an open mouth. And apparently, the uvula was like a Tickle Me Elmo that recited Cardi catchphrases when pressed. Never mind what the shoes looked like.