(FILA North America) – FILA and New York based retailer, Alumni, have cooked up a collaboration that will take care of your post-4th of July appetite. The choice of the Overpass runner silhouette was carefully chosen by both patties involved… Wait, we meant “parties,” we’re getting ahead of ourselves here.
Though it’s found in most pizzerias and bodegas across the five boroughs, the Jamaican beef patty is a pastry that’s best served by authentic Caribbean bakeries. “With this collaboration, our mission was to capture the spirit of the neighborhoods we call home by sharing a treat we eat too often. After all, you are what you eat,” explained Jaeki Cho of Alumni. Crown Heights and Flatbush are two of the largest hubs of the West-Indian population in New York City. As a result, at both Alumni locales, Caribbean cuisines are a dietary staple. So it’s no coincidence that for Alumni’s first sneaker collaboration with FILA, Jamaican beef patty became the choice for inspiration.
The runner silhouette is dressed in a yellow pigskin suede upper. The same coloration is also evident in the molded heel clip and leather sock-liner. While the colorway choice fits the inspiration well, the other product hits are also on point. The toe-box trim features a debossed design similar to that of the beef patty crust. The pair sits atop a white midsole and a translucent outsole, which features an all-over beef patty illustrated print. The brown leather insole represents the filling and features a beef patty logo sandwiched between the FILA and Alumni logos. Additional branding is found on the tongue with the Alumni “A” adopting the FILA font in red and blue, FILA 93 script font is on the counter and the FILA “F” on the collar. Tying the collaboration together, no pun-intended, is the brown and yellow boot-rope laces.
Saturday, July 9th at 12 p.m. EST available at Alumni (298 Utica Avenue, Brooklyn 11213) and www.alumniofny.com.
Retail price: $100
About Alumni:
It all started in 1987 as Sneaker King on Utica Avenue of Crown Heights. The store was immediately welcomed by the neighborhood, and as active sportswear and lifestyle footwear market grew, in '94, the business evolved to Rugged Sole. The two preceding shops laid a solid foundation for what became Alumni (opened in 2013). Today, Alumni has two locations based in Brooklyn’s historic neighborhoods of Crown Heights and Flatbush.
About FILA:
For 104 years, Fila has believed that beyond activity, sport is an ever-expanding identity fueled by passions for excellence, adventure, competition, and pleasure. And so we have spent the last half-century accompanying those who courageously challenge limits and defy expectations while radiating sophistication. It is through this uncommon experience that we have learned: anyplace, anywhere, life in motion is a beautiful thing.
