Drake’s Nocta Sneaker Sets Release Date
Drake’s cultural dominance continues to expand, with his first collaborative Nike sneaker — the Nocta Hot Step — about to release.
The shoe blends the Nocta aesthetic with Nike’s retro familiarity to create a new sneaker icon that sole collectors will be flocking to get their hands on.
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Good things take time, and as long as the wait may have seemed for Drake’s “Certified Lover Boy” album, anticipation for his first original sneaker for his Nike sublabel, Nocta, has taken even longer. The mysterious silhouette, which first appeared in his “Laugh Now Cry Later” video in 2020 and again in Martine Rose’s “What We Do All Day” spring 2021 digital presentation, is finally slated for release on Thursday.
The sneaker has already been teased by several of the Canadian singer’s celebrity buddies, including DJ Khaled and Lil Yachty, who each have already nabbed a pair. The Nocta Hot Step is set to arrive in bright triple white/chrome and triple black colorways, with a passing resemblance to the Nike Air Terra silhouette, but also with an overall appearance of mid ‘90’s Air Max runners, namely the Air Max 95 — albeit with added chunk.
The silhouette features base layers done up with pebbled leather, striped paneling defining the sleek minimalist upper and reflective 3M detailing. They also feature G-Tek traction technology pulled from the Air Terra Humara, a trail-running sneaker released in 1999, which provides wearers with added grip and a unique design language. When the Nocta Hot Step isn’t under the lights, it also gets a bit of luster through small metallic accents that include a tiny silver Swoosh. Branding is kept to a minimum, and the highlight may just be a series of tiny embossed swooshes that appear across the midsoles’ medial arch, along with Nocta’s signature triple cross motif on the tongue and insole.
With a retail price tag of $180, the Nocta Hot Step is set to release globally on Nocta.com and at select Nike retailers, and with the strength of Drake’s legion of fans, plenty of competition can be expected to snag what will be one of the most sought-after sneakers of the year.
Thibaut Grevet
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