Reebok x Packer Shoes Ventilator

The REEBOK X PACKER SHOES VENTILATOR is the second collaboration for the model’s 25th anniversary that we can introduce today.

This summery colourway is the first of four releases that will form a ‘Four Seasons’ collection from REEBOK and PACKER SHOES. The guys over at SNEAKER FREAKER sat down with MIKE PACKER to talk about this latest collaboration:

SF: You’ve been around the sneaker business long enough to remember the Ventilator when it first came out. Not many retailers can say that.

MP: It’s crazy, but I do remember it hitting the store. The Ventilator is an integral part of Reebok’s history. It’s also part of Reebok’s amazing run with technology when they developed things like Hexalite and the Energy Return System (ERS). That’s what comes to mind when I think of the shoe. Plus it’s from the brand’s heyday, when they had the Freestyle, Phase One and their amazing basketball range like the Pump. Look at the runners from that era like the Sole Trainer, ERS 5000, Racer-X and Inferno, they all came out along with the Ventilator back in the early-90s. That was the golden period for Reebok.

SF: How’d you approach doing your version as part of the Certified Network?

MP: We wanted to do something that conveyed that ‘summer’ feeling, something simple that you could easily wear with a pair of khakis. When it came time to create our design, we knew this would be part of a larger project that we were thinking about with Reebok under the ‘Four Seasons’ banner, something that we’ve always wanted to do using a bunch of different silhouettes. The ‘summer’ shoe had to be the Ventilator, because it has that famous see-through mesh and a lightweight feel is perfect for the hotter months. It came out great, we’re really happy with it.

SF: The materials are interesting, definitely some subtle textures.

MP: We used ballistic mesh and some open mesh. We used pig skin suede which brought the whole design together. But we still wanted to give it something extra, because at the end of the day, it’s a very simple looking shoe, but we wanted to add just a hint of texture with the detailing. So we used an ostrich-type leather, which is something we’ve never used before at Packer, and we also used croc on the heel to give it that simple yet ‘Oh shit!’ factor!

The REEBOK X PACKER SHOES VENTILATOR is scheduled to drop on SATURDAY 13 JUNE and will be available via our RELEASE PAGE; which you can link to below.

Source: SNEAKER FREAKER