Sneaker Book Club: All Gone 2006
Welcome back to the Sneaker Book Club! For a quick refresher, we’ll be sharing interesting books covering anything and everything about sneakers. The one condition of the texts we feature is that they must exist in physical form! After all, our magazine still hits shelves as a print edition.
Sneaker Book Club was launched with Nike’s A Brief History of Speed – it even had Steven Smith digging out his copy of the pocket-sized gem! This time, we look at another important book that chronicles the evolution of sneaker culture and the wider streetwear scene: All Gone 2006.
The passion project of Michael Dupouy, the mind behind French agency La MJC, All Gone is an annually-produced book looking back on the year just passed, through the lens of ‘The Finest of Street Culture’.
In 2006, the rise of Internet-based communications and content drastically began to change the way street culture was accessed and consumed. Of course, it’s even crazier today, but Dupouy had the foresight to produce All Gone as a ‘reference guide of cultural symbols of a community, which has never stopped growing’.
This resonates with us at Sneaker Freaker, because while Dupouy describes himself as ‘a staunch Internet supporter’, he also does ‘not think the medium will replace books when it comes to remembering the past’.
With its simple black fabric and goldfoil-stamped cover, the 500-copy run of All Gone 2006 is a limited-edition annual on limited editions. Inside is a smorgasbord of desirable items within street and collector culture presented in chronological order: including sneakers, clothing, toys, books and accessories – just to name a few.
Here are some significant sneaker releases from each quarter of 2006:
Daft Punk x A Bathing Ape BAPE Sta (January)
Now we reckon not many of you have seen these before. According to Pedro Winter (aka Busy P), Bape boss Nigo agreed to make a small run of Daft Punk BAPE Stas if the French electronic duo produced a beat for the Teriyaki Boyz. The execution was simple: black leather, with asymmetric silver and gold contrast, plus embroidered detailing. Only 100 pairs were made: 50 for Nigo’s crew, and 50 for Daft Punk’s crew. Extremely rare.
colette x Nike Elite (June)
colette may be no more, but this not oft-seen colab from the French boutique (who also co-published All Gone) referred to as the ‘trendiest store in the world’ is proof of that appraisal. Utilising the waffle-soled Elite, this is one brand with the vision of modernising Nike heritage – over a decade before the current resurgence thanks to sacai and UNDERCOVER. Another little-known fact is colette’s Elite, Opium’s Air 180, and A.P.C.’s Court Tradition formed the Parisian leg of Nike’s ‘Clerk Pack’.
The Hideout x Nike Air Footscape Woven (September)
Another boutique ahead of its time (and also unfortunately no longer operating), London’s The Hideout introduced labels such as Supreme and NEIGHBORHOOD to England for the first time. This brand power enabled a daring collaboration with Nike’s Air Footscape Woven, an eye-catching silhouette already in prominence that year due to a slew of strong conceptual releases. The Hideout’s version took it up a notch, with a faux pony hair upper in ‘Hamster’ brown and ‘Richard Gere’ grey. Of course, both were very limited releases.
Sneaker Freaker x Lacoste Missouri (October)
If you haven’t read our definitive history of collaborations, this is where it started: our first sneaker collaboration with Lacoste. Not only was an archival Lacoste sneaker dug out from the back catalogue, the usually dark green crocodile logo became albino white. Utilising a mixture of nubuck, towelling, suede, mesh, and perforated leather, the Sneaker Freaker Missouri ‘was a study on how the Japanese brands… [used] several materials that create balance’. Appearances of this sneaker are few and far between these days. It seems they’re all stashed away.
You may notice many of the sneakers featured in All Gone 2006 are collaborations, but the common link between every product featured in the book is they all present something truly unique. The colabs all use an important silhouette or story, and the brands inject their own distinct personality beyond merely choosing pre-set colour schemes.
Even as sneaker and street culture ventures into increasingly overt concepts, as referenced by the book’s crazier cover graphics in following editions, All Gone serves as a filter – a carefully sifted culmination of the finest products from the year gone by.
As always, get in touch through our DMs if you have an interesting sneaker book you want to feature in our Book Club…
