In 2018, designers Nathalie Nguyen and Dominic Lopez posted a picture of a virtual sneaker concept on Instagram under the brand . Soon after, a number of stylists reached out, looking to acquire the shoes for their celebrity clientele. Just over a year later, what started as a digital “passion project between two long-distance artists and designers” is making headway in a new reality of footwear and apparel.
“When we first started “H99″, we originally used the page to showcase our own 3D shoe concepts, so finally being able to make our first shoe is really full circle for us,”
Happy99 Co-Founder, Dominic Lopez
Presented in two distinct colorways – Purple/Midnight/Earth (100073105) and Boulder Grey/Mint (100073106) – the Happy99 x Reebok Instapump Fury leverages a diverse blend of fabrics, bold color pops, and earth tones to draw inspiration from ’90s video games and anime. Additional design elements include a translucent Pump button and bladder, a Cordura/suede/synethetic mixed material upper, graphic nylon and ripstop gaiter, custom graphic sockliner, an OG Fury carbon footplate, and branding nods throughout.
“We love the icon-ism of Fury in general, from its popularity in cult classic moments to its anime collabs and fun cameos,” continued Lopez. “From a design perspective, the silhouette’s sharpness combined with the bubbly facade of the Pump bladder is such a cool juxtaposition. And the option to cover with the gaiter gives it some height and a nice added layer of texture.”
“We’re big fans of doll culture and often make miniature clothes and shoes for dolls to shoot for promo,” concluded Happy99 Co-Founder, Nathalie Nguyen. “Usually we work with 1/3 and 1/6 scale dolls but for this project we decided to 3D print a life-sized doll (1/1 scale), to shoot it in the wild in our neighborhood -Chinatown, NYC.”
The Happy99 x Reebok Instapump Fury ($250) is available December 15 exclusively from Happy99.online, followed by a wider global release from Reebok.com and select fashion retailers on December 22.
