Here at Geek, we love a good sneaker collaboration, sometimes even ones that don’t involve pop culture – did y’all catch that Joe Freshgoods New Balance drop over All-Star Weekend? But here, the tech and pop culture side of the sneaker world is very much our niche. As such, with 2020 starting off strong for the sneaker scene, we’ve found ourselves thinking about collaborations we’d like to see moving forward in the year. Some of them have basis in reality and very well may end up happening while others are purely wishful thinking. With the first major sneaker event of the year having wrapped up last weekend, we figure now is the best time to take a page out of The Secret’s (literal) book and speak a few of these into existence (that’s how it works, right?). Here are the sneaker collaborations we want to see in 2020.
The Eternals x adidas
Let’s start with one that feels like it’s going to happen. Marvel and adidas have long collaborated on dope sneakers, with 2019 being something of a landmark year for that partnership. Every MCU release came with a dope pair of adidas kicks (or a few) to mark the event of the release. We expect that to continue in 2020.
To be clear, there will probably be some Black Widow sneakers to accompany the release of the film in May, but it feels like there’s no way that collab ends up as exciting as whatever the brands are working on for Eternals in the fall. Widow’s color scheme is great for the character but on the dull side for sneakers. The Eternals, though, are a race of immortal space gods and by nature will likely lend themselves well to a collection of bright, eye-catching kicks. We have no idea what the film itself will look like, which may end up swaying the direction of the collaboration, but the possibilities for this one feel endless.
Adidas’ final Star Wars capsule of the year arrives on Dec. 2. (Photo Credit: Adidas)
The Mandalorian x adidas
Another one that feels more an eventuality than a pipe dream, we’d bet good money this fall sees the debut of some sneakers inspired by the first-ever live action Star Wars TV show The Mandalorian. Adidas dropped a whole slew of Star Wars-inspired sneakers this past fall, with well over a dozen sneakers included in the collection, but those shoes largely drew from the primary trilogy films in the franchise. Right around the same time, The Mandalorian was debuting and slowly building a stellar reputation (even greater now, in the wake of the response to Episode IX) but merchandise of any kind surrounding the film was scarce due to the secretive buildup to its premiere. It feels safe to say that will be remedied come the show’s second season premiere.
Dunkaroos
Alright, here’s a weird and purely speculative one. The last couple of years have seen sneaker collabs as quirky as the Kyrie Irving ‘Cereal Pack’ and the recent Gatorade-inspired PG4s from Nike. 2020 has been confirmed as the year that will mark the return of beloved (?) ‘90s snack Dunkaroos. Need we say more? Let’s get some Dunkaroo kicks up in our rotations. Doesn’t matter who makes them – Reebok, Nike, Saucony, Vans – we just know we need them.
Jen Bartel (Yeah, Just Jen Bartel)
We’ve covered comics superstar Jen Bartel’s foray into the sneaker world pretty extensively since it began last year with a pair of Captain Marvel adidas joints. She most recently designed a pair of PUMAs to commemorate the release of Birds of Prey. Her kicks are consistently dope and, perhaps more importantly, consistently sell out. The next step seems obvious – just let Jen design a shoe of her own this year. Her eye for color and design is top-notch and it’d be rad to see what she could do with a pair of adidas Superstars, Air Maxes, or Air Jordans with full creative reign.
A Slasher Pack
There have been plenty of Halloween-centric releases over the years, and some that directly homage horror movies (the Freddy Krueger Nike Dunks are the stuff of legend) but it’s been a while since we’ve seen a proper large-scale tribute to horror movies – which is a shame because it feels like it’d be like printing money for whichever brand gets on top of it. Admittedly there’s probably some licensing hoops to jump through (the Big Three of Freddy, Jason, and Michael are owned by different media conglomerates, making a licensing deal tricky) but releasing a drop like this around October would be easy money and an instant sellout.
Nike Kyrie 5 ‘SpongeBob SquarePants’ Pack drops on August 10. (Photo Credit: Nike)
Nike Kyrie Irving x SpongeBob Pack: The Sequel
2020 sees a new SpongeBob SquarePants film hit theaters, which is good an opportunity as any for Nike to double down on one of their coolest 2019 releases – the Kyrie Irving Spongebob Pack. The last drop centered on the Kyrie 5, which has since been retired in favor of the new Kyrie 6 (equally dope in our mind). Why not run it back? Get a new lineup going, throw in a new character or two (we’d love to see a Ms. Pearl or Gary the Snail sneaker) and you’re golden. Make it so, Nike.
ASICS x Snake Eyes
One of 2019’s more underrated pop culture-centric sneakers was the G.I. Joe ASICS pack, which contained two shoes inspired by the silent Joe agent Snake Eyes and his archrival, the white-clad Storm Shadow. With the Snake Eyes movie (starring Henry Golding!) movie dropping later this year this one feels like a no-brainer. A new pair of Snake Eyes kicks from one of the more underrated sneaker brands in the game would be a killer drop ahead of the film’s release.
