hanon shop x Reebok Ventilator ‘Robert the Bruce’

Up next for Reebok is the Ventilator, introduced in 1990 as an athletic shoe which had a lightweight upper with vented side panels for breathability. The Ventilator is a popular model for Reebok and this year, it’s 25th anniversary year, we see it get the collaboration treatment from world renowned boutiques such Extra Butter, SNS, 24 Kilates and now, hanon shop of Aberdeen, Scotland.

If you haven’t already noticed, hanon shop pride themselves on their Scottish roots, and it features heavily on many of their collaborative efforts, and this edition of the Reebok Ventilator is no different. This time around, inspiration for this shoe comes from the Scottish warrior-king, Robert the Bruce, who lived from 1274 until 1329, and reigned as King of Scots between the years of 1306-1329. Robert the Bruce is famously known for leading Scotland during the Wars of Independence against England, and succeeding in defeating the English to regain Scotland’s place as an independent nation.

There is a famous legend about Robert the Bruce and a spider, and it is said that in the early days of his reign, while he was on the run from the English, he was driven into exile and so sought refuge in a cave where he say and watched a spider try to spin a web. Time and time again, the spider would fail, but then climb slowly back up to try again, and this is where the worldwide recognised phrase “If at first you don’t succeed – try try again” comes from. Finally, the spider succeeded in spinning  a web, and Bruce was inspired by this spider, and took this phrase into battle, defeating the English at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314.

The Reebok Ventilator has a green and mint coloured upper, that gives a nod to the Scottish bills, and the hits of purple on the shoe point towards the moss that is often found on the stone fences seen across the country. There is some webbing on the footbed and is used as a direct connection to the spider from the famous tales, and there is also a spider embossed on the left heel, with the hanon flame logo on the right heel.

The hanon shop x Reebok Ventilator ‘Robert the Bruce’ will be available in online at hanon shop on the 18th of April at 00:01, with a retail price of £109.

I was lucky enough to get an early look at the shoes and shot some on-foot images, but be sure to check back here when hanon’s official images are released and I will update the post.