In the modern sneaker game, riots are something of a slightly-distant memory. We’ve come a long way from the days of the notorious 2011 Air Jordan 11 Concord drama. That said, can you blame sneakerheads for raising a little hell over 99-cent pairs of shoes?
Let’s backtrack for a second: earlier this summer, adidas announced a unique collaboration with AriZona Iced Tea. Yeah, you read that right. The collaboration featured a lineup of four sneakers with colorways themed around cans of AriZona Iced Tea. They were, shockingly, kinda dope as hell. And while the shoes were scheduled to receive a regular wide release, their big debut involved a pop-up in New York at which fans would be able to purchase a can of AriZona Sweet (or Green) Tea for the long-standing price of 99 cents — and get a pair of the shoes for free with it.
A colorway of the new adidas x AriZona Iced Tea Continental Vulc sneaker, dropping September 1. (Photo Credit: adidas)
Reader, you may be surprised to hear that quite a few people showed up for this event. So many so that it was shut down by the NYPD before it even had a chance to open. Gone were the 99-cent sneakers. Gone was the dream. The four shoes received a release eventually but sold out quickly and are still in high demand. The Green Tea Yung-1 has resold for as much as $600 since then.
Never fear, though. Now that the dust has settled, the brands are back at it with a bigger drop and a wider release (and, hopefully, a riot-free one). This new drop features a whopping 12 sneakers with an array of festive, vibrant prints paying homage to a variety of AriZona beverages. The line is largely based around the adidas Continental Vulc, but they threw in a few pairs of classic slides for the summer vibes.
A colorway of the adidas x AriZona Iced Tea Continental Vulc sneaker. (Photo Credit: adidas)
As far as colorways go, there are quite a few choices for fans to pick from. The highlight is easily the Green Tea with Ginseng and Honey colorway, which was also incorporated into the first drop. However, don’t sleep on the Watermelon or Mucho Mango colorways.
The adidas x AriZona Iced Tea Adilette slide. (Photo Credit: adidas)
Does this collaboration make a ton of sense? Nope. Do we care? Not even a little bit. Against all odds, the adidas x AriZona collaboration has been one of the highlights of the summer for sneakerheads and while we can’t rightfully condone riots by any means, it just makes the story of how these shoes came to be all the more entertaining.
A colorway of the adidas x AriZona Iced Tea Continental Vulc sneaker. (Photo Credit: adidas)
You can pick up the adidas AriZona Iced Tea collection on September 1. Keep an eye on adidas.com for more info as it comes.
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