Have You Seen These?

The thrill of the scavenger hunt in sneaker culture.

In the halcyon days of Y2K sneaker and streetwear culture, shock drops (“quickstrikes” in Nike parlance ) got a burgeoning community of enthusiasts into a frenzy. Instagram didn’t exist, most information got out through word of mouth, and then later began to seep onto digital mediums like blogs—although forums were far more prevalent at the time.

SuperFuture, Splay, and NikeTalk were pretty much the pipeline to the latest intel, and the term “if you know, you know” was just coming into its own as gatekeeping was encouraged rather than frowned upon. Around this time, brands like Greig Bennett’s Orchard Street occupied this liminal space between streetwear labels that stood the test of time (your Supremes and Stüssys) and ones that have since faded away but are fondly remembered (shouts Nom De Guerre, LRG, and Recon).

In the summer of 2003, Bennett took 30 pairs of “Brazil” Dunks and 30 pairs of “St. John’s” Dunks and customized them with cut-out treatments and a gothic-inspired typeface that has become synonymous with a certain era of streetwear. The advertisement was nothing more than a few posters pointing out the shoes were out there, and then actually putting the shoes out in the wild.

The real kicker? They were thrown over lightposts, traffic lights, and strategically placed spots around Manhattan that often required people to do some serious climbing in addition to hitting the pavement. Even then, it wasn’t a guarantee that the pair you secured was gonna be in your size.

Ever since that initial release, the Orchard Street Dunks—an unofficial Nike collaboration—have become a cult sneaker grail. In addition to fetching hefty prices on auction sites like Sotheby’s, they’ve gone onto inspire high-fashion colorways like these LV Trainers from the late Virgil Abloh’s tenure at the house.

But they’ve also brought to mind the thrill of the hunt when it comes to finding a grail. While we can’t fully go back to the analog days of sneaker culture, there are a few modern releases that really try to tap into that energy. One that comes to mind is the artist Tom Sachs, whose Mars Yard series of sneakers were earned, not given. His most recent release, the Mars Yard 3.0, were mostly allocated through the I.S.R.U. app, sort of a digital summer camp where hopeful shoe owners had to check in, do different tasks, and the most diligent were allowed the chance to purchase their size.

Much closer to home, the first iteration of the ongoing partnership between HIDDEN and UGG made its quiet debut this week. The HDN-UGG Tool Boot V1 is a special edition that will never actually be for sale, but will be given away through an online survey symbol hunt, a one-day NYC-based activation, and then a select few have been reserved only for HIDDEN.RSRCH members with a paid subscription, with allocation freeing up at a later date.

It’s not too late to play along with the digital game, but it goes without saying that given the extremely limited nature of these boots, it wouldn’t hurt to try for as many chances as you can….