NYC’s Tip Top Shoes, Mephisto, and fashion arbiter Mister Mort (the creative alter ego of Big Apple street style photographer Mordechai Rubinstein) recently created an ultra-limited-edition collab sure to be on streetwear lovers’ covet list. Just 15 pairs of the vibrantly colored Mephisto Matches exist, distributed during an exclusive friends and family drop for influencers close to the project at Tip Top, giving the family-friendly Upper West Side retailer an entrée into the hype-driven “if you know, you know” niche more commonly associated with its sister store, West.
Mister Mort’s take on the Mephisto Match featured full grain tumbled leather in bright pink and red with a white and gray sole, white or green laces (the shoes came with both to give wearers a choice), and a custom woven tongue label that ties into a larger forthcoming Mister Mort and Tip Top Shoes x Mephisto Match release of a brown Match inspired by a mountaineering boot.
“Mordechai and I spent a lot of time nerding out about vintage men’s footwear and hiking apparel,” says Adir Landes, brand director for Tip Top Shoes and West NYC. “We felt that the hiking boot is the perfect mutual ground for Tip Top Shoes and Mister Mort. It’s utilitarian in a city where walking is the number one mode of transportation. The hike/outdoor category has always been strong in Tip Top Shoes. The brown pair we’re going to launch is a Range Rover for your feet: overbuilt for the city, but it looks great and is incredibly comfortable.”
Tip Top and Mister Mort chose candy-colored red and pink Matches for the limited batch as a statement-making promotion, says Landis. “Knowing full well that these weren’t going to hit retail, we wanted to make something as loud as possible—a Mephisto in a colorway that you likely won’t see ranged in their men’s line again,” he says. “Mordechai and I went back and forth discussing color combinations at large. We met up at a bench outside Gasoline Alley Coffee on Lafayette. With my computer on my lap and cigar in hand, we narrowed down the color options and sent the final design to France. I had the opportunity to see the sample in-hand for the first time at Paris Fashion Week in June, where I approved it on the spot with Mordechai Facetiming in.
“People have told me that the colorway reminds them of the Strawberry Lemonade Reebok x BBC Ice Cream Boardflip, or the Kidrobot Friends and Family Air Max 1, but in reality we just wanted to make something fun to wear that would only be given to a few people,” Landis adds.
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