Kicks for the KULTURE: Cannabis-Inspired Kicks

By Jose Rozay

Welcome back to the July edition of Kicks 4 the Kulture! This month I have decided to highlight four of my favorite cannabis-inspired sneakers ever produced. Additionally since I have previously only featured Nike brand sneakers, this edition will be focused on appreciating different well-known brand name kicks inspired by the vibrant 4/20 culture. Nevertheless the following sneakers listed have all been labeled under Rozay Legendary Status.

1) Adidas Superstar 1 “Philly blunt”

Release Year:2008

The Adidas Superstar 1’s come from the combined effort of the well known tobacco manufacturer Phillie and the original trefoil tribe. In my opinion these are some of the most creative on my list of favorites. Inspired by the Phillie blunt itself the color of the shoe is a dark cigar paper brown. But it didn’t stop there, Adidas took it a step further. Adidas transformed the tongue logo to a parody of the Phillies logo, as well as texturizing the leather to appear like tobacco. Though a rare number of people own sample pairs, this creative ode to a cannabis staple sadly never made it into production for the public.

2) Huf Hupper 420 pack

Release Year:2011

In 2011, California based skate clothing and footwear brand Huf produced The Huf Huppers Pack. A simple sneaker silhouette that carried a big message, covered in a green base and all-over cannabis leaf like printed canvas with a soft suede finish on the toe box. The Hufs were released as a pack accompanied by three pairs of socks and limited to only 420 pairs made.

3) Bait x Adidas Originals Stan Smith Vulc “Happy 420”

Release Year: 2016

Above you see the Adidas classic Stan Smith silhouette collab with Bait inspired by the very high holiday 420. Made from high grade homegrown hemp, the sneaker body had been heat pressed with a pattern of small stones, done in a nod to the burning of the hemp. The heels were done in a hairy chunk suede to reflect the texture of cannabis buds. They have a secret pocket behind the tongue for a stash, and finished off with a fake prescription label on the pull tab of the heel. Honestly they killed it with the creative label that read “420 mg, take once daily.” Adidas released these shortly after the recreational use of marijuana was legalized in California.

4) Vans Vault Era “Palm Leafs”

Release Year: 2012

Vans dropped their classic era silhouette introducing new summer like style to fashionistas. Vans covered the era sneakers with all over printed patterns of “leafs”. The leafs obviously represented cannabis but to play it safe with the parent groups, vans disguised the sneaker labeling them “palm leafs” as if it was palm leafs printed instead of the magical Mary Jane.