Xenomorphs, Power Loaders and 1980s Fashion: A Look Back at Reebok’s Ongoing Relationship With the ‘Alien’ Franchise
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Sigourney Weaver may not star as Ellen Ripley in “Alien: Romulus,” but the legacy of her iconic character is still felt as the franchise lives on and continues its special relationship with Reebok.
The footwear giant recently announced that a new “Alien”-inspired shoe — featured in this year’s “Romulus” and influenced by Weaver’s sneakers in James Cameron’s 1986 sequel “Aliens” — would be released after the movie hit theaters. The purposefully scuffed-up sneaker, which lends the recognizable fog, gray and red colorway to the brand’s BB 4000 II Mid basketball silhouette, has already sold out online.
As fans might know, this is not the first time Reebok has released a sneaker inspired by the enduring sci-fi franchise. With the partnership between Reebok and “Alien” making waves yet again, FN takes a look back at their collaborations and how they’ve bridged the not-so-distant realms of footwear and film.
It all began on screen in 1986. While trying to protect young orphan Newt from xenomorphs, Weaver’s Ripley pulls off a number of bada– maneuvers in a unique pair of high-top Reebok sneakers. The boot-like shoes feature an ankle-length shaft and are secured with velcro straps that stretch across a red tongue.
While fans certainly noticed the shoes, Reebok did not release this style to the public until Alien Day (April 26) in 2016, when it hit the market alongside a mid-calf iteration inspired by the shoes of Android Bishop (Lance Henriksen). These shoes were a hit right off the bat and were quickly offered on eBay for hundreds of dollars.
Amid availability issues, fans targeted the brand and 20th Century with complaints that the shoe was offered only in men’s sizes; notably, a female character wears the sneakers in the film. Dan Mazei of Reebok said to USA Today, “While size availability varied by market, the Alien Stomper is a unisex style and was produced in sizes (U.S. Men’s) 3.5 – 12, which is a typical size range for a unisex model.”
In 2017, Reebok kept the success of the Stomper alive by releasing a pack with two sneakers inspired by the epic final battle between Ripley and the alien queen. In “Aliens,” Ripley protects Newt while operating the Power Loader, yelling the famous line, “Get away from her, you b–ch!” Honoring this scene, one shoe is yellow and black with industrial stripes in reference to the military machinery; the other shoe is a glossy black, inspired by the alien herself.
On Alien Day in 2019, Reebok released a new version of the shoe honoring the 40th anniversary of the franchise, this time in a low-top silhouette. The shoe was intended to look like a prototype, explained designer Christopher Hill in a release that year.
“The idea is that it’s a prototype. Any time you build shoe there’s always prototypes of the samplings a year to 18 months out from the design process. The theory we chose to go with is that the shoe that showed up in the second movie could have been in the first movie and existed,” said Hill. “When you buy it, it’s supposed to feel like you just happen to find this prototype of the shoe 40 years later that was on the ship, that’s why it’s aged and yellowed.”
The final “Alien” shoe to be released before a four-year hiatus was the Reebok Alien U.S.C.M Bug Stomper, a high-top shoe with beige textile material and camouflage design inspired by “Aliens” character United States Colonial Marines PFC William Hudson. The design featured a myriad of Easter eggs nodding to the film.
$288
Until this summer, fans might’ve thought that it was “Game over, man, game over!” for “Alien” shoes. Except for a 2022 collaboration with Mountain Research that brought back the Stomper style, the connection between Reebok and the franchise quieted down for several years. Now in 2024, Reebok revealed a new version of the Reebok BB 4000 II Mid. The shoe retains its laces but features velcro straps above them in a nod to the previous Stomper styles. They are purposefully distressed to lean into the action element of the film.
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