Titolo Talks To SF About Their Reebok Insta Pump Colab
For the 20th anniversary of its retro-futurist masterpiece, the Insta Pump Fury, Reebok is releasing a cornucopia of collaborations with partners from all over the world. One of the highlights is the 'Alpha' with the Swiss shop Titolo, which was released earlier this month (pics from the launch above). asked them a few questions about the colab and its background.
Your first colab has arrived. How was it to hold the final product in your hands?
We were excited, it was an incredible feeling to get the final sample from Reebok in the mail. The materials were spot-on, just how we imagined them, and the details were perfect.
What was the most difficult part of the shoe's design?
For us, the shoe itself always takes centre stage, not necessarily the story behind it. When we work at something like this we want to create products that we want to wear ourselves. The challenge is in deciding on the details. We kept it subtle with the details and accents of our Insta Pump Fury.
How many samples did it take to get the shoe just the way you wanted it?
The first delivery had colour deviations in the neon yellow – the neoprene upper was just too pale. Also, the Titolo logo on the red tab was too narrow. We had to do some decisive fine-tuning. The final sample was top-notch!
What is the story behind the shoe, and why these colours?
We're pretty much sneaker purists and know the history of the Pump Fury pretty well. When you deal wth a certain model it is important to know the original colourway. This original is the closest to what the actual designer felt when creating the shoe. Technology, aesthetics and materials are the base – the colourway is the icing on the cake. And again, the love is in the details. A simple upper was important to us. We chose the neon yellow to honour the original.
The Pump Fury is still polarizing. Do you like shoes that are not in the 'mainstream'?
In our view, a top sneaker is either 'beautiful' or 'awesome'. That sounds pretty superficial, doesn't it?! The shoe models we think of as 'awesome' need a deeper understanding or even knowledge of the sneaker world. The Insta Pump Fury is exactly in this category for us. Within our circles, it's clearly a collector's item. Those who know a little about the Japanese scene also know that this shoe has been an important part of Japanese sneaker history ever since its first release in 1994. The Japanese consumer is infatuated with technology, which is also expressed in the shoe trends. But the conscience for technology in the lifestyle sector has risen strongly there in the last few years, too. We appreciate this a lot.
We were surprised at the speed at which the last Fury anniversary models sold out – although the shoe is special. Are the kids' tastes changing?
Trends are always changing. One of the most important features of our job is to be very trend-savvy and sense when trends come or topple. With high-concept collaborations such as the last Insta Pump Fury releases, it was obvious that the collectors and aficionados would reach out. There were some pretty good designs among them!
Please let us know something about the packaging, which has become an important part of many colabs...
For our 'friends & family' packaging, we got inspired by the Hexalite cushioning.
Which other Reebok model would you like to reanimate?
Definitely the Reebok Pyro.
And which other shoe is such a favourite that you would like to work on it as well?
That list is endless. And it contains a lot of models of many brands that have a deeper meaning for us – iconic products. And the intention is to not only live up to our expectations, but also those of the fans out there. This question makes one dream. And there's always a dream at the beginning. Dream big!