It’s painfully cold out. That’s one of the few things that we know for sure, standing on a quiet sidewalk in Brooklyn, one block removed from the Dumbo waterfront on Saturday morning. We also know that this is where London streetwear brand Corteiz recorded a promo video for its black pony-hair Nike Air Trainer Huarache collaboration that’s a few hours away from dropping at an undisclosed location in New York City. The video showed a streetside kiosk with the sneaker on display, but there’s no trace of that setup in Dumbo on this still, bitter morning.
We—myself, a friend, a coworker, and about 14 others—are waiting in a loose line across from where the kiosk was, torsos bubbled up in marshmallow jackets and hands mostly in pockets because the temperature is a good 10 degrees south of freezing. It’s not 9:30 a.m. yet, and the sun isn’t touching our section of the block, but you kinda feel like it wouldn’t help much anyway. About half of the small group is wearing at least one piece of Corteiz gear. One guy pulls up in a grey Corteiz x Nike track top before realizing he needs more serious outerwear and does a half jog back to his car for another layer. I can feel the tips of my toes in my Spiridons clocking out.
We don’t actually know if the sneaker release will happen here. We don’t know if it will be the first or last stop in our pursuit for the shoe. But we’re here anyway, hopeful that the sleuthing that led us to the spot will give us an edge in the hunt. How did we get here?…