Take New York’s buzziest menswear label, add in the most famed athletic brand of all time, and what do you have? Public School’s collaboration with Jordan of seven items, including two sneaker styles, arriving in stores this weekend. Needless to say, the heads of menswear addicts are already spinning. “The Jordan Brand x Public School collaboration provides an amazing opportunity to blend performance and fashion, bridging together each brand’s respective worlds,” said Jordan Brand president Larry Miller. “We are excited to elevate a few pieces from the brand’s apparel and footwear categories with Public School’s design insights and premium craftsmanship.”
For Public School designers Maxwell Osborne and Dao-Yi Chow, the chance to work with the label was, as they say, a dream come true. “Having the opportunity to collaborate with Jordan, one of our favorite brands, was really an easy decision,” said Osborne over the phone. “I would say we have more Jordans than anything else we own combined.”
Chow echoed his sentiment: “To be able to work on it and actually affect the product—and to have them admire us and feel that we could offer or add an additional layer or element to the brand—is probably the best compliment ever.”
After overcoming the initial shock of being able to put their spin on pieces they’ve revered since their youth, the duo set out to imbue Jordan with a bit of Public School’s New York cool. That means a primarily black and gray palette on the sneakers and ready-to-wear and silhouettes that were native to their men’s collection, like shorts over pants and a double-sleeved hoodie. “The collection being monotone means it can also integrate into what we would wear from Public School,” Chow explained.
The grail items from the collaboration, however, are the sneakers. The duo’s take on the Air Jordan 12 in molded dark gray suede with “PSNY” embossed on the tongue has already drawn a fair share of hype in the sneaker community, while a geometrically knit high-top style, not linked to a specific Jordan silhouette, may appeal to the more fashion-savvy dude. “We thought about the sneakers in the context of how it would work in an entire look,” said Chow. “We didn’t think about it just as a piece of footwear or a sneaker by itself, but we thought about it in the context of this uniform and how the Public School aesthetic plays into it.”
The collection drops in stores and on Jordan.com on December 12, though you can get a first look at all seven items here.
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