Reebok’s relationship with the NHL is ending this fall, but the company has one final swan song for Caps fans.
On Friday, the company, in conjunction with local shoe shop Major DC, announced the creation of Capitals branded shoes that would be on sale for a limited time.
It’s one thing to put a logo on a shoe. It’s another to design a piece of high sneaker art that perfectly captures the team and sport. That’s what Major did in this design.
The color scheme is drawn from the team’s vintage third jersey. The shoes’ double-knit sand mesh is reminiscent of the old Caps jerseys from the 80’s, while the upper part of the shoe is covered in wool and buck leather that is used in hockey gloves. The clear bottom outsole emulates ice. The Capitals old logo is encapsulated underneath. Finally, the sole is an original illustration of an eagle.
On Saturday, the shoes were first released at Major’s Georgetown location. A line entering the store appears to have stretched down an entire DC block.
@russianmachine could you have just told me first and THEN told the world? pic.twitter.com/JQIrcDaofe
— Rich Taylor (@RTinDC) May 6, 2017
Reebok has collaborated this season on two other pairs of original NHL shoes. Reebok created a Los Angeles Kings branded shoe with the Southern California store BAIT ahead of All-Star weekend.
In March, a beautiful Red Wings design was released to the market, featuring all the championship years printed on its soles.
The Capitals shoe was made available for preorder through Major’s website today. Some shoe sizes are already sold out.
Reebok plans to release the shoes on their own website on May 27, though that could be pushed up depending on how the Capitals are doing in the playoffs. The Caps are currently down 3-2 in their second-round series with the Penguins and must win two elimination games to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals.
“We will be handing off the NHL partnership to Adidas so this program is no longer long-term, however the initial goal that we’ve proudly met was to create cool collaborations that were hyper localized with the NHL,” Lorna Chaulet, Reebok’s Trade Marketing for Trend, said to RMNB in an email. “We have had a great partnership with the NHL and each team and this was our way to pay homage to this partnership and these teams in a cool way that resonated with consumers.”
There could be more NHL team designed shoes over the next few months, but for now, the Capitals are one of three teams to get this special treatment.
Headline photo: Emily Wright
