The Skechers x Snoop Dogg Sneaker Collaboration is Dropping Like It’s Hot

Everything Snoop Dogg creates is imbued with the essence of Snoop — full of charisma, color, and an air of inclusivity. These are exactly the core tenets that the mogul wanted to implement when he set out to collaborate with global shoe brand Skechers. Snoop created a collection of sneakers for all walks of life, informed by archival Skechers models. Coming off a major campaign with the multi-faceted celebrity earlier this year, the brand has announced an ongoing collaboration with the icon that will start with three capsule collections rolling out over the coming months, designed with universal comfort in mind.

Like the entertainer himself, Snoop’s Skechers silhouettes are for everyone. The West Coast-bred icon’s career began in the hip-hop industry but he has long established himself as a style role model, a philanthropist, an actor, and now with Skechers — a sneaker designer. Each capsule will embody different parts of Snoop’s emphatic style, instilled with zany prints, vibrant colors, and comfort-maximizing technical features. The Skechers x Snoop Dogg collaboration is dropping like it’s hot, with the first iteration, The OG and Remix Capsule, launching on August 1st.

Snoop spent time in the Skechers showroom, working firsthand with the design team to create capsules that truly reflect his energetic persona. For the premiere capsule, he selected a core style that was first introduced to the sneakerhead scene in 2004. The Skechers Stamina original release was aligned with the timing of Snoop’s platinum record, Rhythm and Gangsta: The Masterpiece, so it only made sense to highlight this model. At the time of its release, the multifaceted creative notes that his style was retro-leaning, so this is mirrored in the modern version’s nostalgic colorways and patterns. The first capsule also includes the Snoop One OG and the Snoop One Double G, which employ Skechers Hands Free Slip-ins® technology with the brand’s exclusive Heel Pillow™ design, and a signature “Snoop S” logo.

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Hypebeast caught up with the entertainer while on set for his Skechers x Snoop Dogg campaign shoot to discuss his inspiration, what this collaboration means to him, and what’s to come with Skechers.

Hypebeast: Could you tell us about some of your earliest Skechers memories and why you decided to take on a major collaborative role with the brand?

Snoop Dogg: Once I built a relationship with the people from Skechers, we decided to collaborate on creating some shoes with my touch and my feel on it. But as far as my earliest Skechers memories and discovering them, I already knew what they were about. I always had a different optic on Skechers as far as who they were made for, until I actually went into the building and saw that they have great designers and great shoes for all walks of life. It made sense for me to take my collaborative efforts to work with a shoe company that was as big as them and that understood the magnitude of what we could do together.

You aimed to reflect your ever-evolving style throughout the sneaker collection. Can you tell us how your style has transformed over time and how would you characterize your sneaker style today?

I think my style has always been unique to me. It’s always been looked at as, ‘How does he reinvent himself?’ When it’s really not reinvention. It’s more about me just digging into the depths of who I am. Through fashion, I’ve been able to put some things out that influence people. So it only made sense to try to create a shoe that I could feel comfortable wearing and that could also impact people around the world. Like I said, it’s a shoe for walks of all life. There are shoes for people who have jobs where they need steel toes, athletes, entertainers — we’re trying to make a shoe for everybody.

Feeding off of that question, your goal in designing this collection was to create everyday shoes for the on-the-go multifaceted wearers, like yourself. What technical aspects or comfort features of the shoes were important to incorporate so that each model can be embraced by every walk of life?

When you wear a shoe, you want to be comfortable. In this case, I was aware that what feels good, looks good. The soles have got a Goodyear bottom that I really love. It has a nice traction to it — in case I need to get away. And then they have an air-filled sole as well. There are different color schemes, different fabrics, and just the feel of it all is great. A lot of the shoes that I’ll be making with Skechers will be Slip-ins because I don’t like to bend down and tie my shoes. I want to be able to slide into it and keep on doing what I’m doing.

2023 marks the 50th anniversary of hip hop. Did that have any influence on your collection for Skechers and the Snoop Dogg collaboration? In general, how has hip hop culture impacted your creative outlook over the years?

Definitely, it had a lot to do with the styles that we chose because we want to always incorporate hip hop. Hip hop has been around for 50 years, and we know it’s going to be here for another 50 years. So to be able to take what has made me for the 30 years of my career and engulf that into the shoes, I mean, that’s what it’s all about. Hip hop, in general, it saved me. It blessed me. It gave me an opportunity to figure out who I wanted to be and how I could stop being a gang member and eventually make a million gang members become rappers and then become a businessman, become a father, become a husband, become a coach, a leader, or a mentor. So hip hop has birthed all of the great things that you see happening with me. Hip-hop is the foundation that I stand on.

How do you think that sneakers have played a role in overall rap and hip hop culture? What do you think sneaker culture means to consumers and how do sneakers allow expression?

I think a shoe or a sneaker is always representative of where you’re from. For example, we know Timberland is New York. We know Chuck Taylor is West Coast. We know a Gator is Detroit. The shoe fits the community, the people, the likeness, the flavor. So the sneaker has always been a dictation of who you are and where you’re from. But now, when Skechers Snoop Dogg shoes come out, it’s going to be global. It’s not going to have a certain region connected to it to where you feel like, ‘Oh, I can’t wear that shoe because it’s for New Yorkers.’ This shoe is for everybody. That’s what I am. I am for everybody. So I wanted to make a shoe that could actually have that appeal to it because I feel like certain shoes are sectioned off for the area that you come from or the type of style that goes with your look. But I’m trying to give you a shoe that can go with any look. We even have shoes for ladies and girls coming too. So we don’t want to forget about y’all either.

Everything that you do throughout your career, you really leave your mark on it, including the styles in this collection. Specifically the ‘Snoop S’ on the toe bumper within this collaboration, which is a really cool detail. In what ways did you bring your personality to this design process and how do you hope to continue bringing your distinctive energy to Skechers on future projects?

I think being able to work with the excellent Skechers team and for them to sit down with me and just pick my brain, go through some of the things that I like — the colors, the fabrics, the looks — and then for us to agree that this is the look that we are going for is an important process. Because first of all, I’ve gotta like it. I wouldn’t want to sell you anything that I’m not totally into or that you don’t see me in seven days a week. Their team is excellent at taking my ideas, my styles, and my flavors. The color schemes are bright, loud colors, but they’re beautiful colors. They look like ice cream when you’re wearing the shoe.

So color is super important to you. It’s important to have that personality and vibrancy to it.

Because I feel like I’m so full of color. I feel like Snoop Dogg is full of life. He’s like the life of the party. He’s joy. He’s happiness. So the shoe should feel just like that. When you see a Snoop shoe, you should feel like you’re getting a piece of me with the shoe.

To dive into the Skechers x Snoop Dogg collaboration, visit skechers.com.