Reebok, give us a pack!

Well, everyone's got new stuff for fall, and we just got to check in with Reebok's Design Director of Lifestyle Footwear, Ben Kuchler, to hear about theirs. For the men (and those of us females with 6.5 men's size feet and up), they have dug into some classic silhouettes and produced some beauties, including new additions to the Elements collection, the RAD pack and the Sir Jam Pack.

Elements Collection Pump Omni Lite (only at Journey's)

RAD Pack Pump Omni Lite (BMX inspired)

Sir Jam Pack

I'm having a hard time choosing between the Elements and the RAD pack, personally. Such different approaches to the same sweet classic.

Now for the women....we don't get any packs, but we get some brand new silhouettes. Ben says they're "breathing new life into classic models... using new and fresh material stories for a celebration of Reebok's classic, timeless DNA". You see if you agree. Here's the clearly freestyle-inspired "Vollee":

(Metallic colorway available in November. Vollee available at "Shoe Show" only.)

This second one is the "Courtee", a "basketball inspired fashion silhouette" with a "women's stance" (?!?). I googled "courtee" to learn more about it and was humored to find out that a "courtee", according to the Urban Dictionary, is "A young woman in a love relationship with a courte with a declared intent of marriage." So maybe Reebok thinks it's courting us with these? I say if you want to declare marriage, I want a whole Pack! And enough with these girly stances. They'll probably fly out of the malls, but I want Reebok to aim higher for the ladies.

Ben says they are. He did promise that they're "working on a bunch of different collaborations for the women", including taking the freestyle to another level and debuting an upcoming collection (pack??) called "My Generation". Speaking of goofy names, vollee? courtee? Ben says the whole name thing is tough: "Designers often start off thinking of names, then the legal department gets involved, by the end, we're taking each other's last names and turning them inside out, etc." Hmmm, sounds fun, but until the dudes get a sneaker called Ballee, I'm thinking that's only half the problem!

Yao Ming Pump Omni Hex Ride

All of the sneaker companies are wondering what to do about the Olympics. First they went all out to have the flyest kicks on the best athletes on the biggest stage. Now they're halfway to all out--as in let's get the hell out before anything dangerous or political can happen. Heaven forbid an athlete takes a side or has an opinion that might be controversial. (Remember, "Republicans wear Jordans too"?) So now they're stuck: great product, dicey stage, how can they make the most ($) with the least risk?

Speaking of risks, Reebok's biggest world star, Yao Ming, is still at-risk of not playing in his homecoming Olympics. (Good thing lesser-Reebok-star Rajon Rondo played so well in the NBA clincher! Go Celtics!!) But back to Yao. He has been cleared to play on the Chinese national team in tourneys leading up to the Olympics, so hopefully his foot will cooperate and we'll get to see him go all out as the hometown hero. In any case, Reebok is dropping these beauts August 8th to celebrate his return. 2,008 individually numbered pairs will be released in China, and there will be unnumbered releases in Europe and the U.S. ($150)

Click on the images above or below for better detail.

I really think they're quite beautiful, especially the dragon which snakes around the entire shoe. I'm not so fond of the Hex Ride midsole, which seems like yet another version of the Shox, but what can you do? The rest of the Pump Omni details look superb. These are the first Mings that I would rock. They should come out down to a size 6.5 men's, but I'll keep you posted.