(FILA North America) - FILA has collaborated with iconic pizzerias from all five boroughs of New York City, to launch a collection of sneakers exclusively sold at Foot Locker.
FILA worked with the restaurants to incorporate meaningful design elements into each silhouette. The styles were created in custom colorways that pay homage to the pizzerias, with special touches in the form of playful prints, uniquely branded insoles and dual-logo treatments.
FILA's Famous NY Style Pizza Collection highlights Rubirosa Ristorante, Roberta’s, sLICe Astoria, Louie & Ernie’s, and Lee’s Tavern. The footwear offerings include the brand’s Original Fitness Ripple, F-13, and Renno designs.
Rubirosa Ristorante (Manhattan): The FILA Renno x Rubirosa Ristorante celebrates the family-run, Italian-American, neighborhood restaurant and pizzeria on Mulberry Street. The footwear was created in a white, orange and gold colorway, with a pop of green on the FILA flag and a co-branded Rubirosa Ristorante and FILA logo on the tongue. The red lines that appear on both the side of the shoe and the sockliner are meant to represent the restaurant’s outside awning. As another nod to the founder AJ’s legacy, the heel is decorated with “one love” atop red, yellow and green hearts.
Roberta’s (Brooklyn): The FILA Original Fitness Ripple x Roberta’s pays homage to the Bushwick pizza staple. The sleek white design features an all-over print, with Roberta’s famous script logo in a cherry tomato hue. Roberta’s branding also appears on the tongue and through a window cutout on the back heel. The shoe’s sockliner mimics a menu, as it highlights the pizzeria’s most popular pies.
sLICe Astoria (Queens): The FILA Renno x sLICe was designed in macadamia, orange and black, to play off the pizzeria’s signature colorways. The clean and sleek design is meant to mimic the restaurant’s contemporary décor. sLICe and FILA branding hits are included on the tongue, heel and sockliners, which are decorated with a repeating graphic print that features slices of pizza.
Louie & Ernie’s (The Bronx): The FILA Renno x Louie & Ernie’s was crafted in a white, red, and green colorway to reflect the Italian flag, and to celebrate the pizza joint that has been dishing up traditional thin-crust pies and slices since 1959. Louie & Ernie’s branding is embroidered on the tongue and featured on the back counter. As a clever nod to the pizzeria’s policies, “Sorry, Cash Only” and “No Delivery” are printed on the toe cap, while “Louie & Ernie’s Pizza” appears on the back heel. The sockliner is embellished with an outline of the restaurant, appearing through an ice bottom.
Lee’s Tavern (Staten Island): The FILA F-13 x Lee’s Tavern is a classic black and white design, in tumbled leather and suede with pops of black on the FILA flag, logo embroidery on the tongue, and “Lee’s Tavern Est 1940” on the upper. The owner’s catchphrase, “What the world needs is pizza and quiet,” appears on the back heel. The sockliner highlights the restaurant’s Hancock Street corner signage, a design element that can be seen through the shoe’s ice sole.
For all footwear styles, the back of the tongue includes a map of NYC, highlighting the borough where the pizzeria is located. The sneakers come packaged in a custom shoebox, meant to resemble a pizza box, and with the co-branded logos. The FILA Renno styles retail for $100, the F-13 for $90 and the Original Fitness Ripple for $85. The footwear is offered in men’s sizes 7-12, 13.
FILA's Famous NY Style Pizza Collection is available exclusively on FootLocker.com and select Foot Locker locations beginning 7/26..