Raekwon and Packer Shoes Unleash the Diadora N9000 ‘Cuban Linx’ Colab

Cast your mind back to the simpler days of 2015 and you may recall a killer colab between Packer Shoes, Wu-Tang Clan heavyweight Raekwon, and Diadora on the N9000 ‘Purple Tape’. The velvety purple people heaters celebrated the 20th anniversary of Rae’s seminal Only Built 4 Cuban Linx… at the time, and some sharp-eyed sneakerheads may have spotted a red and yellow unreleased sample on the feet of ‘The Chef’ himself. Five years on, Cuban Linx is now 25 years old, and it just so happens the N9000 is celebrating its 30th. So, Packer have helped reunite the three parties to drop a new colab!

The N9000 ‘Cuban Linx’ is based off the original album artwork of the aforementioned album, which heavily features red and yellow tones. This is translated with perforated red leather quarters with healthy tonal suede accents, and stark black toe boxes. Pony hair overlays and ostrich tongues differentiate this release from the OG sample, while adding extra luxury. Clever finishing touches include ‘1995’ embroidery on the heel counter – in purple, of course – and a co-branded Packer x Raekwon x Diadora tongue label modelled on the RIAA’s Parental Advisory label. The colab is packaged in a translucent purple Ziploc bag labelled on both sides, which, of course, references the ‘Purple Tape’ (the other name of Cuban Linx).

The Raekwon x Packer x Diadora N9000 ‘Cuban Linx’ releases on December 23 at Packer’s retail locations and their webstore.