The “City of Angels” OMN1S is the sixth of seven colorways to release over the remainder of 2019. Available December 12th at 10:00am ET online in the US, Canada, Europe, China, Singapore, Ho
Source: The OMN1S City of Angels Drops December 12th
20 years ago there weren’t any sneaker blogs. The only place info on sneakers and culture showed up was when Scoop Jackson and Russ Bengston gave us gems in SLAM magazine and then Dime magazine delivered us info. There wasn’t a casual athletic category. Fashion followed the streets so on the East Coast Timbs and Kani ruled the day. On the West Coast Dickies, Chucks and Cortez were staples.
When it came to sneakers though, runners wore running shoes and everyone else wore basketball kicks. 30-40 somethings rocked business shoes and the only people with multiple pairs of kicks were hoopers who didn’t want to wear the same shoes everyday at the gym. Basketball shoes were the beginning and the end of sneaker fandom.
We aren’t there anymore.
There are so many options available today that a basketball shoe and a signature athlete is no longer the lane to a successful sneaker release. Basketball, actually traditional sports aren’t even the dream for most youth today.
That leaves New Balance in the awkward position of generating brand heat via a diminishing segment. They are accomplishing this through a series of strategic endorsements and the extremely valuable move of Kawhi to Los Angeles. The imagery and videos are placing NB in the upper echelon of advertisement. A shoe that is definitely not a daily wear model for most, is becoming coveted due to a strategy of scarcity and fantastic visuals for a player that is the epitome of LA culture. The City of Angels Kawhi features a blue and red sneaker sharing the same space drawing the city together in a symbolic design element. The album cover speaks to Latino street culture with Old English lettering and the album cover takes everyone back to the foundation: Hip-Hop and Basketball. It’s a well done marketing strategy that looks incredible.