Category: Shoes

With football’s biggest tournament now in full swing, havaianas brought Brazil stateside with a Hypebeast Cup party in Los Angeles, immersing guests in the crossroads of their culture and the global football fandom. Upon entry, a beach-like product display greeted guests with the havaianas Top Nations collection, a football-inspired range of flip-flops featuring colors and flags representing Brazil, and others, including Mexico, Spain, and Italy. Nearby, an installation of retro televisions evoked the nostalgia of watch party traditions, which have taken North American cities by storm this year. Surrounding the various areas of the party, a garden of tropical plants followed the guests throughout for a truly transportative experience.In addition to serving as an energetic watch party for the ongoing matches, the event guided guests through interactive zones, including a flip-flop customization station. The night’s guests, including Brenda La Latina and her crew, were invited to customize their own pairs with culturally inspired add-ons, such as the nation’s green, yellow, and blue banner framed in a heart-shaped charm. With a range of team-inspired flip-flop colorways and other appliques like macrame fringe, each guest got to take home a highly personalized, wearable keepsake from the event. View this post on InstagramA post shared by HYPEBEAST (@hypebeast) With Brazilian DJ Victoria Moura on the decks, and craft cocktails — like Brazil’s signature Caipirinha and a fruity Batida Rosa — flowing, the celebration was buzzing with the energy of a Copacabana beach party. The bar also served a zero-proof Mate Gelado mocktail, and Brazilian-inspired bites gave guests a taste of the country’s famous cuisine. To drive home the football focus with playful competition, guests went head-to-head at two foosball tables at the center of the party. Immortalizing the night’s spirit of togetherness, a themed photobooth and a havaianas flip-flop wall served as the sites for group photo ops and fit pics showing off the newly personalized sandals. havaianas’ Hypebeast Cup celebration was a full-on cross-cultural experience, showing Los Angeles’ football fans how this global sport inspires unity and celebration not only in Brazil, but all around the world.Hypebeast Cup⁠ NY430 West Broadway, New York 10012Monday – Saturday 11a- 7pmSunday – 11am – 6pmFourth of July: closed️

Name: Nike Air Force 1 Low “What The LA”Colorway: White/Black-Hyper JadeSKU: CT1117-100MSRP: $125 USDRelease Date: Holiday 2026Nike’s Air Force 1 Low “What The LA” is set to return this Holiday season, bringing back a city-themed colorway first released in 2019 alongside its “What The NYC” counterpart.The original concept took the “What The” format in a different direction than its predecessors. Rather than pulling design elements from earlier sneaker releases, Nike built the colorway around Los Angeles sports culture, blending shades and materials tied to several of the city’s biggest teams into one shoe. Purple and gold call back to the Lakers most directly, while blue, red, black and metallic touches gesture toward the Dodgers and the Kings, with the combined palette giving each pair its own distinct identity.Materials and construction carry that multi-team concept through the build. Suede and leather panels mix with glossy overlays, contrast Swooshes and splattered midsoles, layering several textures and finishes across a single upper rather than committing to one. Los Angeles script appears near the heels and across the insoles, anchoring the design back to its city-wide concept without leaning on any official team logos or branding.That restraint is part of what gave the original release its staying power. By referencing basketball, baseball, hockey and the city’s broader streetwear identity all at once, the 2019 “What The LA” read as a tribute to Los Angeles itself rather than a single-team product, a distinction that separated it from more straightforward team-branded sneakers. A return would mark one of the more recognizable entries in Nike’s “What The” series finding its way back into rotation alongside its original NYC counterpart.

Junya Watanabe MAN and New Balance are stepping into the footwear archives to revive one of the most obscure design chapters in the running brand’s history: the 574 “Lost Prototype.” Tapping into the global appetite for heritage-inspired, understated footwear, the joint effort injects contemporary luxury into a silhouette that perfectly straddles the line between late-’80s performance DNA and early-’90s lifestyle minimalism.Originally given a limited lifestyle run in 2017, the “Lost Prototype” design is based on a phantom sample discovered deep within New Balance’s archives. Historically, the shoe represents an experimental phase between the release of the M576 in 1988 and the final consumer version of the M574 that dominated the early 1990s. This latest relaunch improves upon its predecessor, using an elevated material package that pairs premium, plush nubuck overlays with breathable open mesh panels across the vamp, tongue, and collar—a classic configuration that honors New Balance’s athletic roots while catering to premium tastes.Architecturally, the Lost Prototype feels more aggressive than a standard inline 574. The silhouette has been re-engineered with a noticeably sleeker, more streamlined toe box and a taller, more pronounced sole unit. For cushioning, the midsole incorporates retro-leaning CCAP technology to offer substantial impact absorption and structural stability. Co-branded details are integrated across the construction, proudly featuring the JUNYA WATANABE MAN stamping prominently on the back tabs and custom woven labels on the tongue.The sneaker, which Hypebeast received an exclusive first look at during Paris Fashion Week, will debut in two highly versatile, neutral colorways designed to anchor a variety of wardrobes. The “Light Grey” option leans on classic brand heritage, combining deep grey nubuck overlays with light, yellow-tinted grey mesh across the underlays and a stark white back tab. The “Brown Beige” iteration takes a warmer, earthy path, layering multiple tonal shades of sandy brown across the upper, offset by a bold, unexpected pop of high-visibility orange along the lateral heel of the midsole.