adidas Ewing II

• MODEL: ADIDAS EWING 2
• TYPE: BASKETBALL
• MADE IN: TAIWAN
• MADE ON: 11/87
• ART.NO: BK5620

After his first officially endorsed sneaker in 1986, Patrick Ewing came back for more in ’87 with an upgrade to his original Rivalry Hi before showing the world the well-known Conductor.

Sandwiched in the middle, it’s not 100% certain that these adidas Ewing II’s were dropped in 1987, but all signs point to it. They couldn’t have been in ’86 because that was when his original Rivalry silhouette was first produced and sold, and they couldn’t have been much after 1987 as it wouldn’t have made sense to continue producing this nearly identical model to the Rivalry once his Conductor (Hi-C) came to surface.

Some interesting details are present, beginning with the place of production. Most (if not all) of the OG Rivalry shoes were made in France with the later Ewing II pairs produced in Taiwan. Funnily enough, the OG box that goes along with the pair pictured here (unfortunately not present for this photo shoot, but it can be viewed on a navy pair of Ewing II’s we reviewed earlier) is of a totally different design and build than any other adidas box I’ve seen, and covered in various Japanese characters. It also shared the identical article number as the previously mentioned navy pair, only shifting the color sticker on the box to show the difference.

The most likely later-released Conductor silhouette is also known to be made in Taiwan, and comparing them side by side with a Rivalry or Ewing II, the differences are quickly seen clustered around the heel. Little changes exist, but mostly it’s the continuation of the foam side ribbings appearing on the upper back part of the heel which are still used in the design of the modern-day Conductor Hi as well.

Speaking of modern-day, this pair is just ripe as hell for the retro-ing fanfare, however due to legal restraints we will likely never be seeing the Ewing II again, at least not specifically under that name, and due to this we have both the Conductor and the Rivalry to thank for not being bound by the laws of… well… law.

Such a seriously historical sneaker should certainly be revived in more prestige than I personally believe it was given recently with the re-release of the Rivalry Low. And while those snakeskin birthday joints were pretty fire, how adidas Originals and the Consortium team found this an appropriate silhouette to tackle before paying the high top its true homage I’ll never know. But I do know one thing: when they drop the Rivalry Hi this year (2013) I’ll be waiting in line if I have to in order to snap ‘em up, even if they manage to mangle them with lesser quality materials or experimentally hazardous colorways (see the Enforcer Mid retro to understand my angst).

written by Dylan Cromwell

photography by errol

shoes contributed by Chris SoleconneXion Leal