Tracing the Reebok Classic Through Music History
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<strong>Tracing</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Reebok</strong> <strong>Classic</strong> <strong>Through</strong> <strong>Music</strong> <strong>History</strong><br />
<strong>Tracing</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Reebok</strong> <strong>Classic</strong> <strong>Through</strong> <strong>Music</strong> <strong>History</strong><br />
Azie Faison’s memoirs ‘Game<br />
Over’, <strong>the</strong> author sings <strong>the</strong> praises<br />
of <strong>the</strong> <strong>Reebok</strong> <strong>Classic</strong> and tells of<br />
<strong>the</strong> popularity of <strong>the</strong> white-onwhites<br />
on 1980s New York’s streets.<br />
Indeed, legend has it that when<br />
infamous Mafia boss John Gotti<br />
surrendered to <strong>the</strong> police, he did<br />
so in a pair of white <strong>Classic</strong>s.<br />
Back in <strong>the</strong> UK, <strong>the</strong> shoe<br />
maintained its street champion<br />
status as <strong>the</strong> acid house and<br />
hardcore rave movements swept<br />
<strong>the</strong> country. Without <strong>the</strong><br />
extortionate price tag attached<br />
to most trainers of <strong>the</strong> time,<br />
<strong>the</strong> <strong>Classic</strong> was a shoe you<br />
could rave in comfortably<br />
without worrying about what you<br />
trod in, or who trod on <strong>the</strong>m.<br />
When hardcore turned<br />
to jungle and <strong>the</strong>n to UK garage<br />
in <strong>the</strong> early and mid ‘90s,<br />
<strong>the</strong> <strong>Classic</strong> was re-appropriated<br />
once more, with <strong>the</strong> Moschino<br />
and Versace-clad ravers of <strong>the</strong><br />
time pairing <strong>the</strong>ir insanely loud<br />
Italian designer garms with <strong>the</strong><br />
simplicity and Britishness of <strong>the</strong> alllea<strong>the</strong>r<br />
shoe.<br />
Londoner MC Bushkin, from <strong>the</strong><br />
legendary garage collective Heartless<br />
Crew, was one of <strong>the</strong> key exponents<br />
of this look, rocking thousands of<br />
pounds worth of designer labels with<br />
£50 <strong>Reebok</strong>s. He remembers <strong>the</strong> era<br />
well and, to this day, still wears his<br />
<strong>Classic</strong>s with pride.<br />
“In <strong>the</strong> early ‘90s, fashion<br />
in London was really influenced<br />
by America or Jamaica; big baggy<br />
jeans and bulky boots and trainers,”<br />
he explains. “Things changed<br />
when jungle and garage took over;<br />
<strong>the</strong> fashion changed. That music was<br />
something we created and could call<br />
our own. It was us, it represented<br />
our own style.<br />
“Baggy jeans were out; it was<br />
all about straight jeans. <strong>Classic</strong>s are<br />
smooth, so <strong>the</strong>y fitted <strong>the</strong> straight<br />
jean look. They’re not overdone,<br />
not too hype; <strong>the</strong>y’re just smooth and<br />
fitting. White boys had that swagger<br />
from early; straight jeans and <strong>the</strong><br />
<strong>Classic</strong>s. The two go hand-in-hand;<br />
<strong>the</strong>y’re a perfect marriage.”<br />
By <strong>the</strong> Millennium, <strong>the</strong> jungle<br />
and garage scenes and <strong>the</strong>ir<br />
associated looks had long faded<br />
away, but <strong>the</strong> <strong>Classic</strong> remained as<br />
popular as ever with <strong>the</strong> British<br />
working classes – with it regularly<br />
cited as <strong>the</strong> most commonly found<br />
footprint at UK crime scenes.<br />
However, as retro shoes began<br />
to dominate <strong>the</strong> marketplace,<br />
<strong>the</strong> shoe found new fans drawn in<br />
by its throwback appeal and <strong>the</strong><br />
simple, go-with-anything design that<br />
befitted its name.<br />
As photographer Ewen Spencer<br />
(famed for his snaps from <strong>the</strong> heyday<br />
of <strong>the</strong> ‘90s UK garage scene) reflects,<br />
it’s <strong>the</strong> au<strong>the</strong>nticity of <strong>the</strong> era that<br />
<strong>Classic</strong>s have come to represent<br />
that has ensured <strong>the</strong>ir continued<br />
popularity in <strong>the</strong> years since:<br />
“I think <strong>the</strong>y’re still relevant<br />
because <strong>the</strong>re’s an au<strong>the</strong>nticity to<br />
<strong>the</strong>m that doesn’t exist now in <strong>the</strong><br />
same way it did in <strong>the</strong> ‘90s. People are<br />
searching for something with those<br />
connotations; a ‘90s casual, working<br />
class or rude boy culture.<br />
“When you think about<br />
movements like garage and jungle,<br />
it’s difficult to find that sort of<br />
spontaneity and subculture now,<br />
so people go hunting for it in<br />
<strong>the</strong> past. I guess all styles are<br />
cyclical and get re-appropriated,<br />
and that’s what’s happened with <strong>the</strong><br />
<strong>Reebok</strong> <strong>Classic</strong>.”<br />
And as <strong>the</strong> second decade of<br />
<strong>the</strong> century has progressed, that<br />
re-appropriation has continued<br />
apace, with <strong>the</strong> <strong>Classic</strong>’s ‘90s<br />
credentials seized on by a generation<br />
looking to reclaim <strong>the</strong> style and<br />
attitude of <strong>the</strong> decade of <strong>the</strong>ir<br />
birth. The cult success of London<br />
anti-fashion label Sports Banger,<br />
which famously subverts <strong>the</strong> <strong>Reebok</strong><br />
logo in many of its most iconic<br />
designs, bears testament to <strong>the</strong> new<br />
found hype behind <strong>the</strong> <strong>Classic</strong> brand<br />
and <strong>the</strong> culture it represents.<br />
As Sports Banger’s chief<br />
protagonist Johnny Banger says of<br />
<strong>the</strong> shoe that has inspired so much<br />
of what he does:“<strong>Reebok</strong> <strong>Classic</strong>s<br />
were foretold. If you’re going to call<br />
it a <strong>Classic</strong>, you better make sure it<br />
is a classic.” We couldn’t have put it<br />
better ourselves.<br />
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