A Reebok History:
Though it was the aerobic sneaker and “The Pump” that catapulted Reebok to fame, it was actually a spike that started the company. In 1893, famed English runner Joseph Foster customized a pair of his running shoes by adding spikes to the sole. His ingenuity caught the attention of other runners, prompting Foster to start his own line of spiked running shoes. The JW Foster & Sons of Bolton, UK went into business in 1894 handcrafting their shoes. The sneakers proved a moderate success and JW Foster & Sons outfitted many athletes, including the 1924 British Olympic Running Team. In 1958, two of Foster’s grandsons, Joe and Jeff, left JW Foster & Sons and founded a sister shoe company, Reebok. Reebok would soon take over their paternal company, uniting the two under the one name.
Big change came for the small British sneaker manufacturer when in 1979, Paul Fireman, a marketer of camping and fishing supplies spotted the Reebok products at an international trade show in the U.S. Seeing potential, Fireman acquired exclusive rights to distribute Reeboks in the U.S. and began the expansion of Reebok. Rather than go head to head with already established sneaker powerhouse, Nike, Reebok decided to keep to its roots and stay niche. The niche Reebok chose: women’s fitness and aerobics. Thus the Reebok Freestyle athletic shoe was introduced in 1982 and, with the early 80’s aerobic dance craze at full tilt, the Freestyle exploded onto the scene pushing the little British running shoe company into the world sneaker arena.
As the aerobic obsession slowed Reebok diversified the company introducing athletic sneakers as well as a children’s line called Weebok. The Reebok basketball sneaker made a pretty significant splash, especially when considering the basketball sneaker market was so heavily dominated at that time by Converse and Nike.
In the late 80s, Reebok faltered a bit with Nike making a major push on the youth and basketball market. Reebok still controlled the women’s athletic market, but its goal of being a top contender in basketball sneakers looked like it was slipping out of Reebok’s grasp.
In 1989, Reebok skyrocketed back to the top with a simple, albeit curious, idea. The idea: place an inflatable collar around the ankle of the sneaker to provide extra support to the wearer. The name: “The Pump.” Reebok’s Pumps were a massive success and a second golden era for Reebok began.
In the late 1990s, sales of athletic shoes declined on an industry wide level and Reebok took a major hit. This coupled with the growing controversy over Reebok’s association with sweatshop labor sent the company on a downward spiral.
At the turn of the century, Reebok, now over a hundred years old, began to once again make a climb to the forefront of the sneaker industry. Making major sponsor and equipment deals with the National Football League (NFL) as well as the Canadian Football League (CFL), Major League Baseball (MLB), the National Hockey League (NHL), and multiple football and rugby teams, Reebok has become one of the top sportswear and athletic gear supplies. Reebok’s re-entry to the urban sneaker market began to gain ground in late 2003 when rapper Jay-Z became the first non-athlete to get a signature shoe from Reebok. The sneaker, dubbed the “S. Carter,” became the fastest selling sneaker in Reebok’s history, faster than both the Freestyle and the Pump. Following on the heels of the Jay-Z success, Reebok, with rapper 50 Cent, developed a G-Unit line of kicks.
In 2006, Adidas bought Reebok for $8 billion, eclipsing Nike’s purchase of Converse three years prior. The Adidas / Reebok conglomerate now has a significant share of the sneaker market.
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Reebok Sneak-Facts:
• In addition to the Reebok label, the company also sells shoes under the following brand names: Weebok, Greg Norman, Rockport, Ralph Lauren, and Polo Sport.
• In 2006, Reebok was bought by Adidas.
• The name Reebok is the Afrikaans / Dutch spelling of “rhebok,” a type of African antelope or gazelle. The name was discovered by the company’s founders, Joe and Jeff Foster, when looking through a South African edition dictionary Joe had won in a race as a child.
• CCM briefly offered a hockey skate with The Reebok Pump in it circa 1995, however it was derided for its poor durability..
• World Wrestling Entertainment wrestler John Cena would wear Reebok Pumps during matches for his old school hip hop gimmick. He would often stop and pump them when he was gaining momentum towards the end of matches.
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Notable Models:
Freestyle
The shoe that put Reebok on the map, the original Freestyle was a low-top Oxford-style woman’s aerobic shoe introduced in 1982. A high-top version was introduced in the late 80s which went on to become more popular than the original low-top. It featured two Velcro closures around the ankle. The Reebok Freestyle is one of the most popular athletic shoes of all time, and the sneaker is still manufactured.
Pump
Bursting onto the scene in the late 80s with the slogan, “Pump Up, Air Out,” the Reebok Pump was the first sneaker to have a internal inflation mechanism that regulated the pressure in the air cushion. Despite the incredibly high price tag for the time (Pumps ran about US $175 a pair), Reebok’s Pump sneakers became a basketball and fashion status symbol. In 2004 Reebok announced that the Pump was coming back. Pumps are now available as athletic shoes and as fashionable sneaks.
S. Carter
Reebok’s S. Carter line marks a major collaboration between the sneaker giant and hip-hop legend Jay-Z. In addition to the low-profile street sneaks, the S. Carter line also features basketball and tennis geared kicks.
Ice Creams
Launched in collaboration with Pharrell Williams of The Neptunes. Reebok and Williams have a long term licensing deal for not only the Ice Creams, but for Pharrell’s Billionaire Boys Club Clothing line as well. Nigo, founder and designer of Bape is also involved with the Ice Creams. The first line of Ice Creams came in boxes resembling ice cream packages and had sparkling dollar bill and diamond designs on the sneaks. Ice Creams have expanded to include images of radios, dice, pagers and money rolls. There is also an Ice Cream skate sneak called the Board Flip (pictured above). Says Pharrell on his Ice Cream sneaker line, “The Ice Cream collection is everything the sneaker enthusiast desires — it is fashionable, aspirational, and most of all it is limited.”
5600
The Reebok 5600 was Reebok’s other popular basketball sneaker (and according to serious b-ballers, Reebok’s only truly relevant one). The sneaker was popular on the street and the court, with Dennis “DJ” Johnson and Danny Ainge sporting pairs. Today the 5600 is making a modern comeback, this time as the Reebok BB5600, a new retro version of the classic kick.
Ventilator
The Ventilator is a classic shoe from Reebok, retooled and then reissued with new colorways and performance updates. In 2006 the Ventilator was part of the Koyomi Calendar Series, 12 limited edition sneakers one for each month of the calendar year.
