Whether it’s within our respected countries or globally, every year our calendars are filled with national holidays. The majority of these are often holidays that aim to bring people together in cause of celebration. Now approaching the end of October, we come to some peoples favourite. We’re of course talking about Halloween. Globally known and celebrated in most countries around the world, this festivity is a day that tends to focus on the spookier side of life.
Much like the kids (and adults) who use it as a time to dress up in their favourite horror movie characters outfit and venture out on a ‘Trick or Treat’ mission, it’s also an opportunity for popular brands to tag along for the ride. This’ll often end up with them delving into their archives and being inspired by a character and dress their most iconic silhouettes in a similar sort of fashion.
So, to celebrate, we take a look back at some of our favourite Halloween inspired launches.
One of the most iconic of these Halloween inspired ‘launches’ is of course, the one that should’ve never seen the light of day and that is of course, Nike SB Dunk Low ‘Freddy Krueger’. What should’ve been the release to celebrate Halloween 2007, this Dunk Low took on a striped knitted appearance that resembled that of famed nightmare stalker, Freddy Kruger.
This of course was followed up with the lawyers from licence holders ‘New Line Cinema’ who weren’t too fond of its resemblance. To try and get it over the line, Nike reworked it with a slightly thinner stripe however, this still wasn’t up to scratch and was followed up with a cease and desist. Calling back all the stock from retailers, it’s only due to a store selling their stock early that pairs made their way into the hands of collectors and now, with this hefty story behind it’s become one of the most desired within the Dunks history. This didn’t stop Nike trying again though in 2020 when they opted to loosely reference ‘Freddy Krueger’ and his famous jumper, this time with the use of materials and instead of the Dunk Low, they went for the equally famous Air Max 95.
Carrying on with the Nike Dunk Low theme, Nike once again reverted back to this silhouette for Halloween 2021 with the ‘Mummy’. Taking on the appearance of a ‘Mummy’, the upper features a tear-away construction that helps take the silhouette on a journey of its own, slightly unwrapping itself to unveil details hidden within.
Delving into the history books when it comes to characters within the horror history books, back in 2018 Saucony teamed up with Super7 and Universal Monsters to recreate the Saucony Jazz OG in 4 extremely limited renditions. Based upon Dracula, Frankenstein, The Metaluna Mutant and The Wolf Man, this 80’s runner was exclusively sold at 2018’s Boodega event with only 12 pairs per style and only one per size. This means, if you happen to see one of these in person, you have something special.
Alongside a couple of releases in 2007, Reebok also decided to bring a Halloween theme to their line up with the Reebok Ventilator. A set of four launches which of course lent towards fan favourites Freddy and Jason, the stand out pair was the Ventilator that took inspiration from Child’s Play star ‘Chucky’ and his denim dungarees and striped T-shirt. The team also didn’t miss a trick by including a matching pair that took on the appearance of Chucky’s bride, Tiffany.
It’s not always a character that gets the focus of a collaboration. When NYC based store Extra Butter had the opportunity to collaborate with Italian brand Diadora back in 2016, the store focussed on that Italian connection and the nation’s unique thriller genre ‘Giallo’. Referencing the 1975 film Profondo Rosso by Dario Argento and with those Made in Italy touches, the team paid inspiration to the movie’s iconic poster.
When it comes to collaborations, teams can often opt towards the more scarier horror films however, back in 2012 Nike decided to go down a bit more of a PG route. That said, it still had all the spooky details needed for a well executed collaboration like the glow-in-the-dark outsole and upper graphic. This time, they teamed up with animation studio Laika and the duo opted for a Foamposite based on the CGI horror comedy ‘Paranorman’ to which the shoe was also named. Limited to just 800 pairs worldwide, the sneaker was only available via an online competition called ‘Weird Ones’. Now, thirteen years on, the Paranorman is one of the most sought after Foams to have released.
It’s not just Nike who wanted to pay homage to Freddy Krueger; however, this one saw the light of day. Back in 2021, Vans teamed up with Warner Bros for an official collaboration that paid inspiration to six iconic films. Friday The 13th, The Lost Boys, IT, The Exorcist, The Shining and of course, A Nightmare On Elm Street and for us, it’s this SK8 Hi that was the pick of the pack. With a weathered green and red canvas upper mimicking Freddy’s jumper, the upper is doused in bloody red markings to relive the nightmares within the film.
For Halloween 2006 and with their BAPE-STA silhouette, BAPE went down the route of outlandish colourways to provoke a freak finish that was all wrapped up in a patent leather construction. Reworking the BAPE logo for this trio, the became the Frankenstein BAPE-STA, Mummy BAPE-STA and the Dracula BAPE-STA.
Continuing the theme of a full patent leather upper, for 2006 Nike turned their efforts to getting the whole family involved. With a women’s Nike Legend and a GS Vandal, the pick of the bunch though was the one you see above, the men’s Air Force 1. Paying inspiration to Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel Frankenstein, the upper features details throughout that hark back to the famed character, most notably the red stitches that mimic those on his forehead or the glossy volt green appearance.
Head over to the post over on our Instagram and let us know which is your favourite!
