Sneaker brand Reebok is digging into gaming console culture this October with a new PlayStation collaboration marking the brand’s 30th anniversary.
The three-pair capsule collection matches archival Reebok silhouettes with the regions where Sony’s first console debuted in the mid-1990s. The Instapump Fury 94, known for its futuristic design, nods to Japan, the Pump Omni Zone II to the United States, and the Workout Plus to the United Kingdom, each dressed in anniversary gray palettes and console-inspired details. For instance, the U.K.’s Workout Plus stands out with PlayStation’s circle, triangle, square, and cross symbols as lace charms, along with a hidden September 1995 stamp and an internal arch band that recalls the ergonomics that defined the PlayStation controller.
The release continues Reebok’s streak of threading pop culture with its back catalog, creating sneaker collaborations using the Club C shoe silhouette with the television series Gabby’s Dollhouse, and for the 30th anniversary of Clueless — all in this year alone. This time, with PlayStation, they are layering gaming codes onto the Instapump Fury 94 canvas, modeling the shoe’s tongue, for example, after the console’s memory card.
For PlayStation, the tie-up is another step in its long history of extending its reach into sneaker culture. The company’s first high-profile footwear project arrived in 2006, when it partnered with Nike on the Air Force 1 “PlayStation” to coincide with the PlayStation 3 launch. That drop was so limited — reportedly around 150 pairs, many reserved for Sony staff and contest winners — that it instantly became one of the rarest sneakers of its era. In the years that followed, PlayStation’s partnership with Nike continued with collaboration shoes such as the 2009 Nike Air Trainer and the Nike Air Force 1 Low in 2018.
The Reebok x PlayStation 30th Anniversary Collection will land in limited numbers across Japan, the United States, and the United Kingdom, through select retailers and Reebok’s own channels.
