Sean Wotherspoon is back with his latest — and perhaps most interesting — collab with Adidas, the Orketro. The shoe is set to release on Thursday, January 19, for a retail price of $160.
.@seanwotherspoon announces that his @adidasoriginals SW Orketro will be released on Thursday, January 19 pic.twitter.com/UaIwRPRaZn
— highsnobiety (@highsnobiety) January 9, 2023
This release comes at an interesting time for both Adidas and Wotherspoon. The Three Stripes have been treading water since terminating their Yeezy partnership with Kanye West in October 2022 amid all of his controversies. The brand had become very dependent — perhaps even too dependent, one could argue — on the Yeezy collab for hype and buzz and now finds itself in the difficult position of having to unexpectedly chart a new way forward. The end of the Yeezy partnership also put into stark relief the fact that the brand hasn’t really had any new hits since the initial release of the Ultraboost in the mid-2010s. And even that shoe has become watered down in recent years, losing some of its initial luster. Add in the issues Adidas has had with its Fear of God partnership with Jerry Lorenzo, and it’s clear the brand desperately needs a hit.
However, Wotherspoon himself is also somewhat in need of a hit. He had major success with his Nike Air Max 1/97 in 2018. The collab remains one of the most sought-after in the game, currently sitting at an average sale price of $1,134 on StockX, which represents a 524% price premium with 17% volatility. However, since making the move to Adidas, Wotherspoon’s output has been largely forgettable. Starting in 2020 with the Superstar, and followed by a pair of colorways in the SuperTurf Adventure — including a co-collab with Hot Wheels — the ZX8000, another Superstar colorway and EQT Support 93, none of Wotherspoon’s Adidas collabs have lit the sneaker world on fire.
So, the question becomes: can the Orketro be the model to kick things up a notch? The shoe is described by Adidas as designed without limit to imagination and notably takes its inspiration from the late 1990s/early 2000s with a hint of brutalism. The shoe features “retro styling, sustainably built for the future” and Adidas lists the color as Supplier Colour/White/Easy Yellow. In reality, you see mostly pink on the upper, with some hits of cream, black and blue piping. The three stripes are toward the front of the shoe in white, and the midsole is again a cream color with hits of black, green and orange. The shoe also features Adiprene+ cushioning, which was a hallmark of the era this shoe takes its inspiration from. The tongue is a pink mesh with cream accents, with cream and light blue laces included. The outsole will be mostly black. with hits of orange, blue and tan.
Is this shoe going to be as big as the Air Max 1/97? In a word, no. There’s no world in which I see this shoe coming close to the level of popularity of mixing together two classic Air Max models. Can it be a success, however? Absolutely, it has that potential. Time will ultimately tell, and I think plenty in the sneaker world will be watching.
Best of luck if you’re looking to pick up a pair!
Sean Wotherspoon x Adidas Orketro Release Details
Sneaker | Release Date | Retail Price |
---|---|---|
Sneaker | Release Date | Retail Price |
Sean Wotherspoon x Adidas Orketro | Jan. 19 | $160 |
To see more of this month’s releases, check out our release date calendar.