Zellerfeld is dropping its latest 3D-printed shoe creation, this time with German rapper and artist CRO.
Dubbed the “Mars Mellow,” the shoe style truly evokes the look and feel of a marshmallow. According to Zellerfeld, the new shoe design aims to evoke lightness, comfort and intrigue in a “wearable piece of art” that draws inspiration from the concept of being “trapped in paradise,” a core theme of CRO’s creative brand “TRIP.”
First presented in Tokyo, the space-age design of the shoe “playfully symbolizes” CRO’s ongoing journey of artistic reinvention and invites everyone to join him on this next, cosmic chapter, the company said.
“This shoe is a journey—a trip into the unknown, where fashion, music, and technology collide,” CRO said in a statement. “I wanted to design something that feels like it belongs on Mars—a shoe not just for Earth but for Martians. The Mars Mellow is futuristic and bold, like something you’d wear while exploring a new planet. It’s playful and otherworldly, but still grounded in my identity as an artist. It’s more than just a sneaker—it’s a space-age statement, made for those ready to leave Earth behind.”
CRO, one of Germany’s most influential rappers, is celebrated for his signature “Raop” sound (a fusion of rap and pop) and his iconic mask. Since his 2012 breakthrough with the album Raop, the 34-year-old musician has solidified his place in the music scene, reaching millions of streams and gaining fans worldwide. His genre-blending music, visionary fashion sense, and artistic endeavors make him the perfect collaboration partner for Zellerfeld.
This release comes just months after Zellerfeld announced its plans for the future. In June, the Hamburg, Germany-based 3D-printed footwear tech company announced it has moved its platform out of beta and is now ready to fully launch what it’s calling the “YouTube of Shoes,” where nearly anyone can upload a design on Zellerfeld’s platform and get their shoes produced.
Through this new program Cornelius Schmitt, chief executive officer of Zellerfeld, emphasized that designers and brands are now able to rapidly bring new concepts to market, while consumers can access a diverse, ever-expanding range of footwear. The CEO noted that for the platform aims to “demolish traditional financial and logistical barriers” when creating footwear, allowing real-time experimentation and product refinement.
“Zellerfeld’s platform opens the door for creators to do what was once impossible—bring their wildest visions to life without the constraints of traditional manufacturing,” Schmitt added. “Collaborating with CRO on the Mars Mellow was more than just creating a shoe. It was the collision of German artistry and our revolutionary technology, creating something that pushes the very limits of design.”
The new CRO “Mars Mellow” shoe, which retails for $380, is now available to order at Zellerfeld.com.
After first introducing the “14XX” line in 2023, Dr. Martens is bringing back one of the collection’s launch styles. Releasing today, the company is offering up its 2976 DMXL Boot once again.
The “14XX” line first launched at pop-up shops in New York City. That initial trio of footwear was dubbed the Beta Pack and included two boots and a slip-on style. The 2976 DMXL Boot was one of those shoes.
A new take on the company’s classic 2976 Chelsea boot, the alternate iteration features a thick, inflated DMXL outsole. Those platform proportions are complimented with a cushioned SoftWair innersole. The upper is also tweaked: made of soft,-full-grain Lunar leather, Cosmo Hub Ripstop panels have been inserted into the design to prevent wear and tear. TecTuff water-resistant rubber-grained leather is also on both the toe and heel. But most importantly, the shoe includes a front zip for ease of use.
The 2976 DMXL Platform Chelsea Boot is available for $170.
The “14XX” line purposes to create progressive, experimental designs that push the boundaries of the brand’s technical abilities. To do so, they reimagine and draw inspiration from old silhouettes like the 1460 boot as well as the 1461 shoe. They have iterated on those styles multiple times, not only in the Beta Pack but also in the Protect Pack, released earlier this fall.
The footwear company often returns to its heritage as a basis for experimentation. This is evident in its lines like the “14XX” line as well as collaborations with designers like Rick Owens who has had an longstanding collaboration with Dr. Martens. He’s turned his creative eye to the 1918 boot as well as the 1460 boot.
Earlier this year, Dr. Martens partnered with Central Saint Martins on a scheme to support student designers. Of those designers was Traiceline Pratt who created a version of the 1460 boot which he first showed in February. This fall, reports indicated that the shoe would go into production and possibly be released to the public. This week, the company confirmed to Footwear News over email that there are no current plans to sell the design and that. a”small run was produced for very intimate seeding purposes only.”
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Price upon publish date of this article: $170
Price upon publish date of this article: $210
Chris Brown is set to launch his fifth Nami slide this week, and it’s just in time for spooky season.
According to The Auracles, the creative agency created by Brown and fashion entrepreneur John Dean, the latest drop sees the Nami slide available in a “NightCrawler” Purple Glow colorway that’s set to release on Friday.
What makes this release stand out is the glow in the dark effect of the slide, which Dean says was added to the shoes via a special glow effect spray. “I’ve never seen something so cool,” he told FN in an interview.
Dean added that the Nami slide draws inspiration from Parametric architecture, which is a form of design where shapes are based on an algorithmic process rather than direct manipulation.
The slide’s signature wave-like textures give a nod to the meaning of “Nami,” which translates to “wave” in Japanese, the executive noted. While additional design details like the signature wavey imprint on the slide’s footbed, as well as the Nami insignia embossed on the bottom of the shoe, complete the silhouette.
The launch comes over a year after the Grammy Award-winner first launched the Nami slide. The shoe, which debuted in May 2023, marked Brown’s first foray into the shoe industry.
Since the initial launch, Dean has led the way in developing the Nami business. “The Nami slide has evolved tremendously over the last year,” Dean said. “We are one of the largest independent companies in the footwear space, and our launches usually sell out within the first few days of releasing.”
Dean also teased some new silhouettes coming from him and Brown in the near future. “We are expanding the Nami brand with an upcoming boot and slide-on shoe in the very near future,” he added.
The latest glow in the dark Nami slides, which retail for $100, will be available exclusively at TheAuracles.xyz on Oct. 18 at 9 a.m. PST.
Harley Davidson has collaborated with LaCrosse Footwear’s White’s Boots to bring footwear audiences a limited-edition Engineer boot.
Blending White’s legendary craftsmanship with Harley-Davidson’s bold style, the collaborative menswear boot offering is an exclusive 2-tone shoe tanned by Milwaukee-based Seidel Tanning Corp. True to its name, the footwear is engineered for longevity, with White’s renowned stitch-down construction, made right here in the USA by skilled craftsman at each stage of the construction process using premium, all leather waterproof components. The Engineer style retails for $699 via Harley Davidson’s website and comes in regular and wide sizes for men.
Built for a lifetime of wear, the boot is fully re-buildable and re-soleable, ensuring the wearer unmatched comfort and durability even in the harshest of terrain. This means the style will get better with age and frequent wear. Vibram 2021 wedge and midsoles cushion the wearer’s feet, offering stability. The motorcycle riding boot is finished with distinctive brass buckle closures and rivets and debossed with custom graphics.
Only 200 pairs of the Engineer boot were produced. Each boot is hand-stamped with a unique serial number, certifying the cementing the uniqueness of the collaboration. The shoe is available for purchase now at Harley-Davidson.com.
White’s Boots is a handcrafted leather boot company founded by Edward White back in 1853 when White started making boots for loggers and soldiers in Connecticut before the American Civil War. The brand’s most popular shoe silhouette is the “Smoke Jumper” boot, which was created for Wildland Firefighters.
Harley Davidson is a motorcycle manufacturer headquartered in Milwaukee, Wis. Founded in 1903, the world-renowned brand began selling shoes in 1998 when Wolverine World Wide Inc. acquired the license to produce Harley-Davidson boots. Since its conception, the brand has partnered with a slew of brands for collaborations including Nike and The Great Frog, among others.
“Yellowstone” star Cole Hauser is giving fans of the hit TV show something to talk about with the release of a new boot collection with The Frye Company.
The Authentic Brands Group-owned footwear brand has teamed up with the actor on a range of three western styles inspired by Hauser’s personal favorite pair of boots.
The new three-piece collection includes a take on Frye’s iconic silhouettes including the Hauser Logo Stitch, Hauser Roper and the Hauser Deco Stitch boots. The range of pull-on western boots are made of premium leather and feature square toes, handstitched logo detailing and rubber outsoles.
“I’ve always believed in quality craftsmanship and Frye has truly mastered that,” Hauser said in a statement. “Each pair of cowboy boots in my collection is designed to reflect not only Frye’s timeless heritage but also the essence of my personal western style. Whether you’re out on a ranch or in the city, the boots in my collection are built for comfort, durability and good looks.”
The Cole Hauser x Frye collection, which retails between $298 and $348, is now available on thefryecompany.com and select retailers.
The new collection comes nearly a year after Authentic Brands Group announced Hauser as an ambassador for its Frye and Lucky Brand labels.
At the time of the announcement in November, the brand management company noted that Hauser would be featured in global campaigns for both The Frye Company and Lucky Brand and will also participate in collaborations and brand activations which are slated to begin this holiday season.
Hauser most recently starred as Rip Wheeler in the groundbreaking “Yellowstone” series. He also has several acting credits in movies like “2 Fast 2 Furious,” “Good Will Hunting,” “The Break-Up” and “Dazed and Confused.”
The Frye Company joined Authentic’s portfolio in 2017 when the brand management company acquired 51 percent stake in the footwear label from Global Brands Group Holding Ltd. for a reported $100 million.
Timberland has loaded up its flagship boot for Day of the Dead.
The Timberland Día de Muertos 6-Inch boot has undergone a sweeping in purple for the forthcoming holiday. Sugar skulls (or calaveras), floers and butterflies are then printed on the quarter in grey and then become even more vibrant by growing in the dark along with the Timberland logo in its usual place. Contrast stitching throughout makes use of light blue, pink and yellow — and the same colors are then used for alternating floral eyelets that give way to glow-in-the-dark skulls for the uppermost tier. Another skull gets multi-color embroidery on the tongue, while a glow-in-the-dark ribcage is printed on the heel. An ofrenda graphic featuring a bottle of tequila, flowers and candles is printed onto the baby blue insole — and the multi-color rope laces also glow in the dark for good measure.
Dimitri Fonti, the associate designer at Timberland responsible for the boot, said in a press release: “The inspiration for the Día de Muertos boot came from my experience starting as a footwear design apprentice at Timberland nearly 2 years ago. When I first started, I was struck by the incredible people here — much like my own family in Mazatlán, Mexico — they are supportive, openhearted, and always encouraging of my ideas. I wanted this boot to exude a sense of community and inclusivity, while also sharing my culture. My hope is that someone, somewhere, will see this boot and feel a connection to it, just as I do with our brand.”
Timberland will also celebrate the launch of its Día de Muertos boot in the week leading up to the holiday with a block party open to the public from 12 to 4 p.m. October 26 at 40-34 82nd Street in Elmhurst, New York. Free activities with include face painting, an arts and crafts station, screen printing, a lowrider show and more. Food and drink will also be gratis.
The Timberland Día de Muertos 6-Inch Boot is out now through Timberland’s website for $210.
About the Author:
Ian Servantes is a Senior News Editor for Footwear News specializing in sneaker coverage. He’s previously reported on streetwear and sneakers at Input and Highsnobiety after beginning his career on the pop culture beat. He subscribes to the idea that “ball is life” and doesn’t fuss over his kicks getting dirty.
Canadian bootmaker Viberg has teamed up for the second time with menswear writer David Coggins on a collaborative shoe.
This time around, the duo is releasing The Outsider II boot. Designed and co-developed by Coggins and Viberg, The Outsider II is a continuation of the writer’s vision to create a boot that blends utilitarian outdoor toughness with city sophistication.
According to Viberg, The Outsider II boot has been produced in a tobacco full-grain calfskin suede and was crafted on the company’s 2040 Chelsea shoe last. The result is a boot that has a closer fit in the waist and heel with a roomier forefront than its predecessor. The model also features custom rear pull tabs and sock liners and a rugged Lactae Havea “Boss” sole.
What’s more, each pair is meticulously handcrafted using traditional channeled insole Goodyear welt construction, a method rooted in the same principles as hand-welted shoes. The channeled leather insole allows the foot to sit directly upon it, with the welt and the entire shoe attached. This method enables your feet to flex, form and mold to the leather insole.
The Outsider II boot, which retails for $1,000 is available now on Viberg.com. According to the brand’s website, the preordered pairs are expected to ship by Dec. 16, as the made in Canada style takes up to 10 weeks for production and delivery.
This latest drop follows the release of the duo’s first project, The Outsider I, which is also available for pre-order on the footwear brand’s website. This model, which also retails for $1,000, was similarly crafted on Viberg’s 2040 Chelsea boot last but is produced in Horween tobacco chamois leather. The flat-toe style also featured custom rear pull tabs and sock liners as well as an antique finish.
A successful author, Coggin’s passion for menswear and the outdoors has become the subject of several best-sellers, and he remains a leading voice in menswear and an advocate for the humble art of fly fishing.
Tasmanian footwear brand Blundstone is launching its first-ever global campaign titled “Well Worn” on Monday. The campaign will help tell the unique stories of the brand’s diverse boot wearers and its products enduring universal appeal.
The campaign is set to highlight how each pair of Blundstones becomes part of each of their customer’s personal stories, saying that every mark and scuff on their “well-worn” boots and shoes reflects the wearer’s journey and is part of their unique stories. The campaign features notable figures from across the globe.
It highlights National Geographic Channel correspondent Mariana van Zeller, Canadian Indie-Folk/Pop artist Fontine, South Korean actor and furniture designer Lee Chun-hee, travel writers Elisa Paterlini and Luca Golinelli and Tasmanian distiller Ryan Hartshorn.
Blundstone Joint-CEO Adam Blake said that the campaign honors the experiences and memories associated with each pair of boots and celebrates he boots’ durability, longevity, and the individual relationship people build with them over time.
“The more you wear a pair of Blundstones, the more they begin to reflect the life you live,” says Blake. “Every scuff and mark has a story, intertwined with your life experiences and personality. Like wine, our boots only get better with age,” he said in a statement. “Blundstones are not made for sitting still, they’re made for living. And it’s the memories, experiences and stories of life that we are celebrating through this campaign”.
“Blundstones are made for living, not just standing still,” Blake added.
“Every single story I’ve ever done, every single trip I’ve ever made, I’ve always worn Blundstones,” Zeller, who is an award winning journalist, said as part of her testimonial for the brand.
Founded in Tasmania, Australia, Blundstone has made the toughest, no-nonsense footwear for work and play since 1870. Renowned for durability, quality, craftsmanship and understated style, Blundstone boots are known to stand the test of time. Best known for their iconic elastic-sided Chelsea boot, Blundstone was recently named the “everywhere boot” in TIME100’s Most Influential Companies of 2024.
After being named one of four winners to a Central Saint Martins for Dr. Martens scheme earlier this year, London-based designer Traiceline Pratt is seeing his designs for the boot brand put into production, according to reports, which Pratt seemingly confirmed on social media.
In 2023, Central Saint Martins and Dr. Martens partnered on the second iteration of their young designer program. For it, they asked students to design versions of the 1460 boot, inspired by their upcoming graduate collections. Nine semifinalists created prototypes of those design and four winners saw those prototypes put into production to be shown as a part of their graduate collection for the MA fashion course in February. Now Pratt, whose boot was one of the more popular from the winning designs, will see wider distribution.
Pratt’s update takes the Dr. Martens 1460 boot, which is the company’s original style, and nestles it within itself. Now with two layers, the design folds the outer shell down for a cuffed appearance while the inner remains up. The graduate collection the style was shown with featured looks inspired by six influential women in Pratt’s life from back home in the Bahamas. As such, the boot was inspired by one of these women who was a thief.
“Everything about her from an appearance standpoint was fresh, the way she dressed, the way she talked, her personality, I mean yeah everything she wore may have been stolen, but the way she styled it was crazy and that’s who I wanted the story to be about,” he told Footwear News earlier this year of the design. “There was this day she was teaching me how to pin dice and cheat in the game. I took a look down at her trousers and how she had them tucked in her socks and how her socks were laid over the shoes — it was a style a lot of girls in school did.”
Pratt’s work often is focused on exaggerated, sculptural silhouettes.
“I deconstructed the 1460 boot and tried my best to recreate this idea into a boot that also complemented the 1460,” he said. “At the end of the day, I didn’t want to tamper with the original design of the Docs, because some things just aren’t meant to be messed with and the 1460 is one of them.”
After first posting his designs on Instagram in February, he responded to fans in the comment section who asked if the shoes were just custom versions, meaning they would not be released. “It’s an official collab,” he wrote to one. “They’ll be dropping.” When others signaled impatience he wrote “everything good comes with time.”
This week a few fashion accounts posted that the styles had officially gone into production. Pratt responded to one with a series of emojis featuring a line chart with the graph on the ascent — this is colloquially understood to mean “the price is going up,” or success and big things are otherwise on the way.
Dr. Martens and Pratt have not yet returned multiple emailed requests for comment. It is unclear if the other three winners — Yanya Cheng, Valeria Pulici and Finlay Vincent — will also see their styles put into production. The timeline of the release is also unconfirmed.
Shop Dr. Martens 1460 Boots
Kendrick Lamar has been revealed as the 2025 Super Bowl Halftime Show performer, adding another jewel to his ornate crown after arguably the most exciting year of his career.
The rapper won’t take the stage for another several months, but there is already plenty of speculation about what his performance will have in store for the millions that tune in for football’s biggest night. Given that he is not only a Pulitzer prize winning musician but a style icon as well — calling himself “best-dressed moving forward” in his 2023 song “The Hillbillies” — one can only predict how he might translate his fashion sense for a stage of this magnitude.
Lamar is a noted fan of sneakers and often throws on a pair for his performances. Moreover, he’s been involved in a number of sneaker collaborations over the years with major brands including Reebok, Nike and Converse. Whether he’s headlining Coachella or attending a fashion show, he knows how to make a statement in a sneaker — though he’ll sometimes switch it up with a different silhouette as well, like a cowboy boot.
Ahead of Lamar’s halftime performance, see below for some of the best shoes he’s worn thus far over the years that might give fans some indication on what footwear he will put on for the halftime show.
In June of this year, Lamar performed at his concert The Pop Out wearing red and white Nike Shox R4 sneakers.
Appearing at a Formula One event in February, the rapper accented a black and white suit with bright green Nike sneakers, the Kobe 6 Protro Grinch.
Attending a Chanel show in Paris earlier this year, Lamar sat next to Naomi Campbell wearing a pair of black and white Adidas Crazy 8 sneakers.
2023
Performing at Bonnaroo in June 2023, Lamar completed his outfit with a pair of Nike Cortez in a white, black and blue colorway. The classic style is a favorite of the rapper’s — he even worked with Nike to create his own version in 2017 inspired by his album “DAMN.”
Accepting the Grammy for Best Rap Album in 2023, Lamar took the stage wearing the Martine Rose x Nike Shox Mule MR4 in Scuba Blue.
2022
Lamar made a surprise appearance at Coachella in 2022 wearing a pair of custom cowboy boots by Rocketbuster which paid tribute to the artist with a number of nods to his life and career.
2017
While headlining Coachella in 2017, Lamar wore a pair of white vans to match his all-white outfit.
In all black the same day at Coachella, Lamar went for his trusty Nike Cortez sneakers — this time in a black colorway with white accents.
2015
Lamar chose Timberland Boots while performing onstage for Kanye West’s Yeezus Tour.
While performing during Kanye West’s Yeezus Tour in 2015, Lamar left the sneakers offstage and wore a pair of classic Timberland boots.