Sick of the Lil Nas and Nike “Satan Shoes” controversy? There’s a new hot collaboration in town and it’s between the popular design company Adidas and the iconic animated television show South Park.
In celebration of the upcoming cannabis-culture holiday 4/20, which takes place every year on April 20, Adidas and South Park will be dropping a new sneaker called Towelie.
The sneaker is inspired by the recurring South Park character with the same name. Towelie is depicted as a purple-blue talking towel and has a comedic personality revolving around getting high and his addiction to various drugs.
Where can you buy the sneakers?
While both the Adidas and South Park social media channels and websites have stayed quiet about their upcoming release, many sneaker enthusiast publications and influencers have confirmed the upcoming sneaker drop and shared “first look” pictures.
The sneakers are Adidas Campus 80s, which are casual shoes whose design was “first seen crisscrossing the hardwood in the ’80s.” However, the South Park shoes trade in the design model’s signature “buttery-soft suede and leather upper” for a purple-blue terry cloth material, emulating the look of a towel.
The brand’s famous white stripes alongside the center of the shoes fit perfectly with the South Park character’s design, as Towelie notoriously dons two white stripes at the top and bottom of its body.
Finishing the shoe off, above the white laces, are two eyes — which is the sneaker’s distinct Towelie look. Adidas has also added another fun, stoner-approved addition: The eyeballs on the shoes will turn red and veiny under UV light.
Sneaker community publication Nice Kicks tweeted out four images of the upcoming sneakers, writing, “Adidas and South Park are teaming up to celebrate 4/20 with an Adidas Campus 80 “Towelie.”
Also included with the shoe is a convenient “stash” pouch which is located underneath the tongue of the shoe and two keychains — one representing Towelie in his sober state, and the other showing him under the influence.
How did fans respond?
Fans were excited to see this new design and despite Adidas’ long history of collaborations, many never imagined that it would venture into adult animation with something as niche as a “stoner shoe.”
Many fans are tweeting that they need a “hook up” for the shoes and the popular gif of Futurama’s Fry holding out a wad of cash with the caption, “Shut up and take my money!”
One fan wrote that they need these shoes “very bad.”
Publication Complex Sneakers asked if the upcoming design is a “drip, flip or skip,” trying to gauge the audience’s reception. The tweet is currently at 1.4K likes with 35 responses and 68 quote tweets and Twitter users appear to be loving the Towelie sneakers.
The top reply already shows the dread for the impending “resale” prices. Tweeting a gif from South Park, the user expressed their concern for the potential high resale value of the sneakers.
The Adidas and South collaboration does not have a confirmed release date yet, but they are expected to arrive before or on April 20. While other publications have slated the drop to be before the holiday, Sneaker News anticipates the shoes being released on the Adidas website on 4/20.
South Park is currently airing on Comedy Central.