CELINE TURNS THE 1982 REEBOK FREESTYLE INTO LAMBSKIN

A hundred percent lambskin upper now wraps the tread Reebok cut in 1982 for its first shoe built specifically for a woman's foot. Celine and Reebok call the result the Freestyle Lo, and it lands worldwide on celine.com and inside select Celine stores on September 10, in eight colorways running from Optic White to Fluo Red. It is the first sneaker collaboration to carry Celine's name, and creative director Michael Rider skipped the easy route of a straight reissue for leather nobody put on an aerobics shoe in 1982.

Reebok Built the Freestyle for Aerobics in 1982

Reebok released the Freestyle on September 1, 1982, designed by Angel Martinez as the brand's first shoe built around a woman's foot, timed to the aerobics boom that turned studio classes into a retail category. The soft garment leather upper and cushioned midsole sold so well that by 1984 the Freestyle alone accounted for more than half of Reebok's total sales, and the shoe crossed into New York hip hop culture well outside its original aerobics audience. Celine kept those proportions untouched. What changed is the material: a hundred percent lambskin upper over a polyester lining and insole, with a rubber outsole underneath, the spec Celine lists on its own product page. A split logo runs across both sides of the upper instead of one lockup, a treatment closer to the branding Reebok already used on its Workout Plus when Destroy Lonely fronted the Born Classic campaign at Foot Locker in May.

Eight Colorways and a Price Celine Has Not Named

Optic White, Black, Butter, Beige, Peanut, Dark Brown, Oxblood, and Fluo Red make up the eight colorways in the Freestyle Lo release, according to Celine's own listing and WWD's report on the drop. Celine has not confirmed a retail price for the pair. The house's earlier lambskin trainer, the ballet flat sneaker Billie Eilish wore through a run of 2023 promotional appearances, retailed close to a thousand dollars, and Highsnobiety points to that pair as the closest price precedent for the Freestyle Lo. Availability splits two ways. Every colorway ships worldwide on celine.com and at select Celine stores starting September 10, but the house is holding a run of exclusive colorways back for two addresses only, Celine's Wooster Street store in New York and its Omotesando store in Tokyo.

Michael Rider Debuted the Shoe on His Solo Paris Runway in June

Rider put the Freestyle Lo on feet two months before Celine confirmed a release date, closing his solo Spring Summer 2027 menswear show at the Tennis Club de Paris in June with the Reebok pair on nearly every model. That show marked Rider's first menswear collection presented on its own calendar slot rather than folded into a womenswear week, and WWD reported the Reebok partnership alongside it as Celine's first confirmed footwear collaboration with an outside brand. Reebok brings its own runway history to the pairing, but never before under a house that also builds its ready to wear from calfskin sourced for a single season, the kind of contrast Rider has leaned on since he took over at Celine.

Authentic Brands Group's Archive Play Just Left Streetwear for a Paris House

Authentic Brands Group has owned Reebok since closing a 2.5 billion dollar purchase from Adidas in March 2022, and its licensing strategy since then has run through streetwear and mass retail. StreetX priced the Reebok Sidewinder 96 at 140 Australian dollars for a July 19 release, and Foot Locker sold Destroy Lonely's 85 dollar Workout Plus and Club C 85 that spring under the Born Classic campaign. Celine is a different tier. A house that already put lambskin on a ballet flat sneaker is now running the same 1982 silhouette through its own workshop, and that jump from Foot Locker shelves to Celine's Wooster Street door says more about where Authentic Brands Group wants Reebok's archive to sit than any single colorway does. Buy the Peanut or Dark Brown pair if lambskin on a workout shoe justifies an unlisted price for you. Skip it if a rubber outsole under a four figure guess still reads as a training shoe no matter whose split logo sits on the side.