Burn Rubber sneaker honors Red Wings’ history
The limited edition Reebok sneaker goes on sale Friday
The Detroit Red Wings have entered their home stretch at Joe Louis Arena, and Royal Oak sneaker boutique Burn Rubber is giving fans something to wear to the final games.
Burn Rubber has partnered with Reebok to create the red, black and white sneaker, which honors the Wings and the team’s history in a number of ways. An imprint of an octopus is on the tongue, the Red Wings logo is etched into the back of the right shoe (the Burn Rubber logo is on the left) and the Wings’ championship years are listed on the two insoles.
The $140 limited edition sneaker — only 600 pairs were produced — goes on sale at a special event at Burn Rubber, 306 S. Main St., from 6-8 p.m. Friday and will be available, while supplies last, when Burn Rubber opens its doors at noon on Saturday.
“We wanted to make it Detroit, in line and in tune with the Red Wings, and as classic as the Red Wings are,” says Roland “Ro” Coit, who designed the sneaker with Burn Rubber business partner Rick Williams.
They decided to integrate black heavily into the design to make it more wearable and functional, despite the lack of black in the team’s uniforms. “We didn’t want to make a bright red shoe,” Coit says. “We kind of thought of it as an alternate jersey.”
The base is the Reebok Bolton, a classic low-top runner that dates to 1992. It’s dressed in premium black leather and red suede, and the shoe’s white stripe is made of reflective 3M material.
With the shoe, Coit and Williams wanted to tell the story of the Red Wings, Joe Louis Arena and the resurgence of the city. It has been in development for about a year, Coit says.
Burn Rubber is one of several sneaker shops to partner with Reebok on NHL-themed releases; Extra Butter in New York released an Islanders shoe last year, and Los Angeles’ BAIT put out a Kings commemorative sneaker earlier this year.
Coit is excited about the release, and says he’s already received pre-orders from fans as far away as Australia. “You can go anywhere and find somebody from Detroit,” he says.
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