Cult-Favorite Streetwear Brand Corteiz Previewed a New Nike Collaboration
In addition to rehashing one of 2023’s most coveted collaborations with the release of a new “Tour Yellow” Corteiz x Nike Air Max 95, the UK streetwear brand and Beaverton, Ore.-based sportswear behemoth are working together again on another retro model.
Teased Tuesday on Instagram by Corteiz founder Clint Ogbenna is the upcoming Corteiz x Nike Air Trainer Huarache collaboration. The second sneaker collaboration between Corteiz and Nike has been rumored since late last year, and now it appears that the rollout has officially begun.
The sneaker shared by Ogbenna is a “Flat Pewter/White/Black/Gum/Medium Brown” colorway and uses the classic Air Trainer Huarache build with some modifications. The shoe’s inner neoprene bootie is colored in a camouflage pattern — a callback to the lining of Corteiz’s Air Max 95s — while an embroidered Swoosh has been added at the toe box. Elsewhere, a gum rubber outsole adds a classic touch to the collaboration.
Custom Corteiz details include an “Air Huarache by Crtz” tongue logo, a molding of the UK brand’s Alcatraz motif on the midfoot strap and its signature “RTW” (short for “rules the world”) abbreviation on the heel.
The Air Trainer Huarache was originally released in 1992 as the cross-trainer offering from Nike’s now-iconic Huarache line. It followed the Air Huarache running shoe from 1991 and ’92’s Air Flight Huarache basketball sneaker. Along with its ridged sole, the Air Trainer Huarache’s defining feature was its midfoot strap, which wrapped from the lateral to medial side of the shoe.
In addition to the Flat Pewter gray colorway previewed by Ogbenna, the Corteiz x Nike Air Trainer Huarache is expected to release in Light Bone and Black styles. All three pairs are expected to be released before the end of the year at a retail price of $210 each, but it’s possible the launch could be delayed.