Here's an Exclusive First Look at the FW23 Martine Rose x Nike Shox MR4
Debuting during the designer’s Pitti Uomo 103 Guest Designer runway show.
Martine Rose and Nike are back together with another round of Shox MR4 sneakers. The London-based designer takes to Pitti Immagine as Pitti Uomo 103‘s Guest Designer, delivering her Fall/Winter 2023 runway show in a grand Florentine loggia that’s been given an Italo house makeover. And while the clothes stole the hearts of the showgoers in attendance, it was the shoes on their feet that brought the collection together in harmony.
Taking the Martine Rose x Nike Shox MR4 that debuted during Rose’s SS23 runway show, and was released swiftly after in July 2022, the designer swaps out the “White” and “Black/Red” colorways for something more nuanced. Informed by goalkeeper jerseys of the 1990s, the new colorway of purple fading into blue is reminiscent of terrace culture and Italy’s love of football, while also keeping in theme with Rose-isms we’ve come to know and love.
The sneaker is structurally the same as the ones that came before it, sporting a pointed and squared-off toe that nods to both Rose’s own footwear designs and also her continued referential study of football culture. Extra long laces and silver-toned 3M panels on the mesh vamp bring football boot cues to the smart-casual sneaker-mule, while silver stitching outlining the black plush synthetic Swoosh emblem on the mid-panels also veers into soccer territory.
Grooved plastic acts as a heel clip and runs around the rear perimeter of the shoe, and on the medial side, you’ll find Martine Rose’s signature “R” emblem incorporated into the plastic. Smooth leather makes up the rest of the shoe, with sculptural details in geometric formations adding a final touch of retro footballing cues to the silhouette.
As expected, a Nike Shox system can be found at the rear. Here, four pistons are decorated in a vivid blue hue, resting atop a black sole unit plate and supporting the black leather dual-branded insoles. Speaking on the collaboration exclusively to Hypebeast, Rose said:
“I really wanted it to feel like a collaboration between London and Italy in the broadest sense. One thing that ties the U.K. and Italy together is music and dance music’s culture, and the other is sport. The shoe underlines that and really draws on those two things. Those little nods to sport across the water put us together.”
The new Martine Rose x Nike Shox MR4 can be seen in the exclusive images above. No word has been given on when they will release, but expect limited quantities and a quick sell-out time.
In other news, JW Anderson is collaborating with Wellipets on a pair of frog clogs.
