Welcome to 2021! We may be in the early days of the year, but we’re already getting some seriously exciting sneaker drops right out the gate. This is good news if you’re looking for somewhere to spend that remaining holiday money. But if 2021 hopes to compete with 2020, it’s going to have to step it up — last year was a truly great year for sneakers. And who knows, maybe, just maybe, we’ll actually be able to wear our new shoes out in public this year.
This week we’ve got fresh kicks from New Balance, Nike, and Adidas, and new fits from two of our favorite streetwear brands — Chinatown Market and Gelareh Mizrahi. So let’s dive into the best sneaker and apparel drops of the week in the first SNX DLX of 2021!
UNDEFEATED Nike Air Max 97 White (UCLA)
LA-based sneaker boutique UNDEFEATED snuck out a pretty dope Air Max 97 drop during the last week of 2020, which seemed like a puzzling move to us. Now it all makes sense, as the label wanted to reserve 2021 to showcase their best colorway of the silhouette yet. Featuring a UCLA inspired clean neutral white base with midwest gold and aero blue highlights, this Air Max 97 hints that 2021 might rival 2020 for great design.
The Undefeated Nike Air Max 97 is set to drop on January 8th for a retail price of $180. Pick up a pair via the Nike SNKRS app.
Adidas A-ZX 5000 Vieux Lyon
One of the most interesting colorways to drop at Adidas in awhile, the Adidas ZX 5000 Vieux Lyon utilizes Jacquard weaving and shimmer details atop a rubber midsole with lace jewels, and matching laces, resulting in an almost fine art rendition of the ZX 5000. We’re loving the carefully crafted details on this sneaker and it’s Torsion support will ensure it wears as luxuriously as it looks.
The Adidas ZX 5000 Vieux Lyon is set to drop on January 7th at Hanon via a raffle and January 8th stateside at Adidas for a retail price of $130.
Jordan 1 High Volt Gold
If you want to make it painfully obvious to everyone that you’re wearing a fly pair of AJ-1s, this new Volt Gold pair was made just for you. This high top Volt Gold features an exposed foam tongue and a reverse tag with tri-tonal color blocking that combines Nike’s iconic volt, sail, and university gold colorways.
It’s like wearing a highlighter on your feet!
The Air Jordan 1 High in Volt Gold is set to drop on January 8th for a retail price of $170. Pick up a pair via the Nike SNKRS app.
Stray Rats x New Balance 574
We’re glad to see that New Balance is staying competitive with the other big two sneaker brands this year and that’s partly due to the fact that the brand keeps linking up with great collaborators who give shine to New Balance’s lesser-known silhouettes. This time around, it’s the Miami-based label Stray Rats who are resurrecting the 574 silhouette with two suede-adorned complementary colorways.
Featuring an upper of suede and nylon with Stray Rats branding on the heel and sock liner, this take on the 574 sees New Balance continuing their fruitful relationship with Stray Rats which began with the 990v3.
The Stray Rats x New Balance 574 pack is set to drop on January 8th for an unannounced retail price exclusively at Stray Rats.
Nike Air Force 1 07 Craft Mantra Orange
While it’s not a substantial release by any means, we appreciate Nike kicking off 2021 with a dope take on the Air Force 1. Featuring stitched overlays, suede detailing, and a fresh Mantra Orange colorway, this rendition of the AF-1 is a strong case for way why we hope 2021 shows a little more love to this classic silhouette than 2020 did.
The Nike Air Force 1 07 Craft in Mantra Orange is out now for a retail price of $120. Pick up a pair at Nike.
Chinatown Market 2021 Collection
Chinatown Market, which is a brand we completely fell in love with over the course of 2020, started the year off with yet another playful drop, this time consisting of two graphic t-shirts, the brand’s best smiley face basketball yet, and a smiley face candle. Chinatown Market’s drops may oftentimes seem completely random, but they capture a youthful and carefree side of streetwear that feels a little lost as the aesthetic continues to be co-opted by luxury brands.
Shop the Chinatown Market 2021 collection at Chinatown Market.
Gelareh Mizrahi “Let’s All Be Friends” Set
Gelareh Mizrahi was one of the brands we strongly suggested you keep an eye on last year, and we’re going to go ahead and parrot that as we head into 2021. Set to launch Friday, the Miami based label will be dropping a new sweatsuit set dubbed “Let’s All Be Friends.” We’re not sure what else the brand has in store for the Friday launch, but it’s bound to be full of color and bursting with that bubblegum bodega aesthetic that we’ve quickly fallen in love with.
The Let’s All Be Friends set is scheduled to drop on Friday at 12 pm EST at Galareh Mizrahi.