After three years of successful sneaker collaborations with Saucony, Jae Tips has announced he’ll now be working with Nike.
The multi-hyphenate rapper and founder of streetwear brand Savior Worldwide dropped the news Thursday morning in an Instagram post featuring photos of him in a varsity jacket with marks for both his own label and Nike.
In the caption, Jae Tips wrote: “New chapter: This one was destiny, I dreamed many nights about this one, I am the testament of 10,000 nights and 10,000 hours, I am the retail to legendary example: not only did I prove the haters wrong, I proved myself right> this one is for my city.”
Related Stories
Jae Tips launched Savior Worldwide in 2019, and it eventually began receiving more attention than his musical output, which now stands at 14 albums. Saucony tapped him to collaborate on a sneaker for the first time in 2023 with the Grid Azura 2000 “Remember Those Who Fronted,” which has sold for more than $1,000 on the resale market and led to the two parties winning that year’s FN Achievement Award for Collaboration of the Year.
You May Also Like
“I’ve been doing a lot of creative work, but I needed someone to cosign me,” Jae Tips told Footwear News in a story on the 2023 award. “I am grateful for Saucony because what does all that work mean after a while if nobody taps in to work with me? The people who follow and support me, how long will they show up to events and buy products if people aren’t going to also stop them on the street and say, ‘Wow, you’ve got Jae Tips on. I’ve seen him on Footwear News.'”
Nike was always just out of the picture, however, as that design was based on a bespoke Air Force 1 Jae Tips created at the now-closed Nike Lab 21 Mercer in New York City. He also borrowed cues from Atmos’ iconic Air Max 1 and the Air Force “Invisble Woman.”
Saucony and Jae Tips have released several collaborative capsules over the years, helping raise the profile of the company founded in 1898 within sneaker culture. Their most recent effort was the ProGrid Triumph 4 “Flowers Grow Uptwon” collection released in October.
Nike also announced Thursday for Air Max day a new program called “Air Works” in which it will have designers from nine global cities come to its global headquarters in May to create their own shoe. One of those locales in New York City, which raises the possibility of Jae Tips representing his hometown for the initiative.