Year Released: 2016 (Reissue in 2017)

Leave it to JJJJound to get into the sneaker game with a collaboration that nobody saw coming. Then again, that’s exactly what we should have seen coming from JJJJound—not a collaboration with one of the world’s biggest brands, but one with a brand few had heard of.

Victory Sportswear is a relatively new and unknown name within the sneaker landscape. The brand was launched in the late aughts as a commercial off-shoot of Hersey Custom Shoe—a made-to-order sneaker company focusing on targeting specific needs of individual clients, one pair at a time. A handful of premium retailers—the ones you’d expect to be familiar with JJJJound—have carried Victory Sportswear over the years, including New York stalwart Nepenthes. As things stand, Victory focuses on two silhouettes: The Speed and the Classic. All of Victory Sportswear’s shoes—and Hersey’s, for that matter—are produced in Massachusetts. It’s a small operation that sees, “The product pass through [the brand owner’s] hands at least 30 times before it gets boxed.” The Classic is a throwback to Hersey’s heritage silhouette and the timeless design, coupled with the detailed production, apparently captured the imagination of Justin R. Saunders, the man behind JJJJound.

Using the Classic as a canvas, JJJJound worked with grey suede and mesh, adding a tan hit at the heel to create the JJJJound x Victory Sportswear Trail Sneakers—or, as they were affectionately known, the JJJJ Runners. While not quite as hyped as later JJJJound collaborations, the Runners are important within the broader JJJJound story; the Trail Sneaker represent the jumping off point for JJJJound’s involvement in footwear and give a clear indication of how he views sneaker design. In January 2016, a post appeared on JJJJound’s Instagram page that, in retrospect, was essentially a hint of everything that was to come: There was one Victory Sportswear trainer, a Vans Style 36 LX and a pair of grey New Balance. At the time, nobody knew what the post meant—it was just another photo of tasteful, simple neutral-colored product.

Then, in early June, 2016, JJJJound announced that the collaboration with Victory Sportswear would be released by the end of the month. In July, the studio announced they’re be out in a few more weeks. The shoes finally dropped on August 26th, 2016—two months after the scheduled release. They typified the JJJJound aesthetic; the sneakers were American-made and crafted from quality materials. There weren’t a ton of pairs, which meant that, despite a relatively high price point—$295—the shoes sold out fairly quickly.

All in all, the first JJJJound footwear collaboration was exactly what should have been expected from the design studio. A simple, timeless silhouette with just a tiny bit of nostalgia sprinkled in for good measure—a testament that good design never gets old. For fans of an aesthetic typified by gray suede New Balance “dad sneakers,” this initial drop with Victory Sportswear was a sign of better things to come.

With 2017s JJJJound x Vans release helped spread the minimalist gospel of JJJJound, late 2017 saw the design studio re-release 2016’s Victory Sportswear collaboration. On the whole, the “Lot 2” collaboration Trail Sneaker itself remained unchanged. What did set the 2017 release apart from the 2016 version was the addition of green laces and an expanded size offering.

They were small changes, but ones that, in the JJJJound aesthetic universe, warranted a new release.

Year Released: 2017

In December 2016, JJJJound began teasing a range of new products—everything from candles to coffee mugs. What, exactly does this have to do with sneakers? Well, the stream of wardrobe staples and homeware was broken in early April 2017, when a close-up picture of green Old Skools was posted on the JJJJound Instagram page. Then came a picture of brown Old Skools and, finally, an off-white pair. Each was subtly two-toned, with a white [Vans](https://www.grailed.com/designers/vans Jazz stripe down the side. Information was hard to come by at first, but the trio of posts was an announcement of an imminent collaboration, set to release at some point in 2017. When, where and how… well, that was anybody’s guess.

On April 30, JJJJound posted a photo of what appeared to be a mobile-shop loaded with canvas tote bags of all sizes. By this point it had become somewhat clear that the new products and the Old Skools would be released at the same time. Were the shoes being sold by a guy on a bike somewhere in Montreal? The post was a nod to the fact JJJJound was about to unveil a physical retail space—albeit a temporary one, without any inventory. The pop up shop, “Patience”, would be located in Montreal, and would be the only place where the trio of JJJJound x Vans Old Skools would be available. Another interesting wrinkle: They wouldn’t be immediately available, instead, they’d be shipped to customers at a later date—hence the “Patience” name.

On May 5th, 2017, “Patience” opened its doors. The Old Skools, it turned out, hadn’t just been given new colorways. In very JJJJound fashion, what set these Old Skools apart were a series of small details. They were constructed from a heavier 8-ounce canvas, outfitted with thicker and sturdier American-made laces, as well as a cork footbed and—perhaps most interestingly—they lacked the classic rubberized waffle sole so ubiquitous on Vans.

Considering that they were released at what was arguably the peak of the maximalist sneaker era, the shoes were somewhat unremarkable at first glance—but those small changes, so meticulously researched and well-executed made them remarkable in an understated way.

Predictably, the shoes sold out almost immediately, with the green pair being the most popular, thanks, in part, to JJJJound’s worldwide network of industry figures who were spotted wearing the shoes. The scarcity—only a few hundred pairs, all three colorways combined, were sold—and the fact that they were only available through the in-store pop up, made the release one of the hottest of the year. By late July, the resale value had already begun to balloon and ensured that when a size run of each color was ultimately released through the brand’s proprietary online store, the J Shoppe, they’d instantly sell out.

Year Released: 2018

After the JJJJound x Victory Sportswear Trail Sneaker reissue, JJJJound went quiet on the collaboration front, focusing instead on putting out what have become the design studio’s classics: beanies, fleece and home goods.

The common thread between JJJJound-branded products is that they’re timeless in same way that Jony Ive or Dieter Rams-designed goods are. The era-less appeal spans from the beanies to the sweatshirts to the coffee mugs. The shoes that JJJJound has put out are no different: The Trail Sneaker is based on a heritage silhouette, while the Old Skool is, arguably, one of the most foundational sneaker silhouettes alongside pieces like the Converse Chuck Taylor. The same can be said for the New Balance 990—in any of its versions or iterations—so it made sense for JJJJound to choose the normcore favorite as a canvas.

Like most JJJJound designs, the 990v3s didn’t look spectacular. They looked like a typical pair of New Balance, but small details stood out. The color of the suede upper was slightly different than usual—closer to brown than to New Balance’s classic grey—and the midsole was off-white with a dark grey outsole, rather than the traditional white and black combination. They were subtle changes that caught the attention of those with a discerning eye—those who knew what a normal 990v3 should look like.

The JJJJound x New Balance 990v3 finally released through the J Shoppe on November 23rd, 2018, with the shoes selling out almost immediately. Exact quantities are unknown, but, judging by how scarce the shoe is on the secondary market, it’s highly-likely that the 990v3s were the most limited JJJJound release to date—or, at the very least, on par with individual colorways of the Vans drop.

You’ll recall the aforementioned Instagram post from January 2016, that teased Victory Sportswear, Vans and New Balance sneakers. It took nearly three years, but, by the end of 2018, JJJJound had brought all of the projects to fruition.

Year Released: 2019

Even with a partnership with the extremely on-brand New Balance in the books, JJJJound wasn’t done. In March, 2019, JJJJound once again took to Instagram to post a teaser, this time of JJJJound branding in the lateral window of a white sneaker. There was nothing else to go on, but, to those familiar with the Club C 85, it was pretty obvious that the retro Reebok sneaker was the canvas of choice for the latest JJJJound collaboration. On March 24th, the JJJJound x Reebok Club C 85 was confirmed by the design studio and, on April 16th, JJJJound announced another Montreal-area pop-up shop, the “Centre de commande”— which translates to “Control Center”—which opened on April 17th.

The shoes, like every JJJJound collaboration, were understated—crafted from white leather, with the faintest eggshell accent on the tongue and piping, along with a grey sockliner and outsole. The colorway was supposedly inspired by that of a vintage keyboard—another deeply researched reference. As is the case with every other JJJJound collaboration, the shoes sold out almost instantly through the in-store pop up—despite the fact that shoes were shipped to customers after they placed their orders in-store, much like the Old Skools. The initial 300 in-store pairs were supplanted by a rumored 1500, available online in May, which also sold out quickly.

The larger production run has meant that the Club C 85 is the most widely-available JJJJound-branded sneaker on the secondary market and while it holds some resale value, it pales in comparison to the JJJJound x Vans Old Skools or the New Balance 990v3s. But, then again, JJJJound is probably not intent on making hyped sneakers that have inflated values. Instead, the Club C 85 typifies JJJJound’s design ethos: a well-made, simple, good-looking staple shoe.