June 13, 2007
A&E
Hoops Spring Eternal
A Philly-based sneaker firm helps spread the peace.
The folks at Philly-based Undrcrwn do. The specialty streetwear, apparel and footwear designers were recently tapped by Adidas to design a custom line of kicks for the discerning pickup B-baller. The garish over-the-top designs of the new sneaks hark back to the dinosaur days of the late ’80s, when Nike reaped the benefits of selling $150 Air Jordans, which cost them about 50 cents a pair to make.
The Undrcrwn-designed Adidas line is tagged Believe in Five and consists of five designs—one for each position on a traditional starting basketball roster. Undrcrwn took matters a step further and designed each shoe with a specific player in mind—and not just any old player, but we’re talking the cream of the NBA crop.
Of the five NBA stars chosen—Chauncey Billups, Tim Duncan, Tracy McGrady, Gilbert Arenas and Kevin Garnett—one has already rocked the kicks in an official game. Agent Zero, aka the Washington Wizards’ Arenas, flashed his custom “Gil Zeroes” in a recent hardcourt battle that ended with him nailing a buzzer-beater to win the game. This garnered a slew of publicity for the sneakers themselves, as ESPN commentators spent half the night debating whether Arenas would be fined for wearing the nonuniform low-tops. The NBA never did levy a fine, but the footwear blogosphere was abuzz about the shoes.
Although Arenas’ display of the Undrcrwn design gave the hoopster nation a sneak peak at the new line, Thursday night marks the official launch of the series as Undrcrwn, Arsenal and Adidas team up to throw a release party that’ll make it feel like 1989 all over again. Plans for the shindig include DJs spinning hip-hop party favorites from the 1988-to-1992 golden era of old-school NES setups, complete with rounds of old Nintendo basketball games like Double Dribble and Jordan vs. Bird, projection-style showings of era-defining films Do the Right Thing, White Men Can’t Jump and House Party, and an overall design reeking of vintage NBA-meets-hip-hop appeal.
While the main focus of Thursday’s blowout is the Adidas line, Undrcrwn is also celebrating its arrival in Philadelphia. Originally based in L.A. with East Coast offices in New York City, Undrcrwn is in the final stages of streamlining all operations into the new location in the bowels of the Arsenal boutique at Second and Fairmount streets. Arsenal co-owners Andrew Freeborn and Rebecca Keller will host the Undrcrwn launch party, completely redesigning the Northern Liberties space to reflect the time when hip-hop and basketball culture first collided.
This culture shock runs deep throughout Undrcrwn’s catalog of kicks and clothing. Along with the Adidas series, Undrcrwn offers its own line of court-worthy footwear as well as a clothing line that emphasizes hip-hop’s more positive messages laced with a basketball theme.
One of the Undrcrwn T-shirt designs features the line “shoot baskets, not people,” and is part of an Undrcrwn-supported stop-the-violence campaign. They’ve already arranged for contemporary hip-hoppers to don the gear for video shoots and live performances. Most notably, rapper Wyclef Jean rocked the “shoot baskets” T in a T.I. video that’ll make the MTV rounds next month.
Perhaps this is the first in a long series of steps to bring the message back to the music and the culture that embraces it. If one little design shop can fire the first shot in a revolution, it might as well be one based in the cradle of liberty.
Undrcrwn vs. Adidas: Believe in Five
Thurs., June 14, 6-10pm. Free. Arsenal, 623 N. Second St. 215.627.3462. www.undrcrwn.com
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