Rapper G-Eazy and streetwear designer Jeff Staple know a thing or two about collaboration. In the latest issue of Footwear News, the two kings of collaboration get together to talk about the art of collaboration, creative curiosity, and their top 5 sneakers of all time.
The two share some of their personal fashion stories including Jeff Staple breaking into Parsons School of Design to make t-shirts and G-Eazy camping out for sneakers in his youth. The two cover the issue wearing STAPLE collabs with Jeff rocking the freshly released STAPLE X Deal x Reebok Instapump Fury and G-Eazy rocking the iconic Nike SB Dunk “Pigeon” from 2005 that changed sneaker culture forever.
As expected, the two sneaker connoisseurs take time to compare their top 5 sneakers of all time and they included a blend of some of the most vaunted silhouettes of all time, some unreleased heat, and some sample footwear never released to the public. In honor of the two titans of collaboration, Footwear News crafted a Spotify playlist just for this moment that you can listen to here. Tap into the full interview with G-Eazy and Jeff Staple on Footwear News.
Photo credit: Justin Bettman
JEFF STAPLE
On being asked to design the Nike Dunk SB in 2005:
“I remember where I’m sitting, the weather outside — I remember every moment of this phone call. It was on a landline. ‘Hey, Jeff, it’s Marcus [Tayui] from Nike. We want to do a Dunk dedicated to the city of New York and if you’d be down to work on that.’ I was like, ‘Can you hold on one second?’ [Screams] I was freaking the f**k out. I was like, ‘Yeah, we could fit this into the schedule.’”
Tom Sachs x NikeCraft Mars Yard
Sabotage x Air Jordan 1 (Prototype)
Staple x New Balance 2002R “Protection Pack” (Prototype)
Staple x Puma Suede
Staple x Crocs “Sidewalk Luxe” Classic Clog
G-EAZY
On his love of cars and design:
“I feel like if you’re somebody with an eye for beautiful design or shapes or colorways, you could apply that sensibility to many different mediums. I’ve been into graphic design since I was 13 or 14 — I used to design my album covers, fliers for my shows. I was into typography and calligraphy. I don’t think the design of automobiles — especially sports cars — is that different from sneaker design.”
His Top 5 Sneakers of all time
Nike Dunk SB High “Skunk”
Nike Air Yeezy 2 “Solar Red”
Nike Mag “Back to the Future”
Nike Dunk SB Low “Day of the Dead”
Jeff Staple x Nike Dunk SB Low “Pigeon”
Photo credit: Justin Bettman