Inside Jae Tips’ New Matrix Sneaker Collaboration With Saucony Originals
For his first Saucony Originals collaboration, Jae Tips opted for a model that wasn’t immediately on people’s radar. His latest collab with the brand is no different.
Jae Tips — winner of the 2023 FNAA Collaboration of the Year Award for his take on the Saucony Originals Grid Azura 2000 — revealed a new look with the brand while attending Paris Men’s Fashion Week. The model he reimagined is the Matrix, a shoe from the year 2000.
“A lot of creatives I work with were asking to bring this back without even conversing with one another,” Jason Faustino, senior global brand manager for collaborations at Saucony, told FN.
Doing some research on the model, Faustino said he discovered it was designed by Brian Moore, the current chief of product at Saucony. Moore designed the Matrix during his first stint with the brand, when he served as vice president of product marketing and design from 1996-2003. Moore, a footwear industry veteran, has a resume that also includes stints at New Balance, Timberland, The North Face and Tracksmith, among other brands.
“The brand was moving into the Y2K era and getting more technical looking, but Brian actually created Saucony Originals and was tasked to make a shoe that was progressive for the year 2000 but had the familiar look of our classics,” Faustino said. “It uses the same logo style on Jazz, Shadow 6000, etc., where the river logo connects from eyestay to midsole as opposed to a floating logo which looks a bit like a dove like it is on the Triumph 4, Omni 9, etc.”
Faustino said Jae Tips, whose real name is John Cotton, was one of the brand’s key partners interested in the Matrix making a comeback and “pitched some colorways to try out.”
“It’s a much different shoe with less pieces and panels than the early 2000s runners we are having success with now, but he cooked this one up and we all loved it,” Faustino said. “The main change was switching to a wool upper. It was appropriate for a fall/winter drop, but I also felt he chose it as a subtle nod to his fitted hats, which always use wool. He also used suede on the toe and heel, put his branding on various parts and changed the tongue to a double layer open mesh usually seen on the upper of a 2000s era runner.”
The Matrix is supposed to launch spring 2025, according to Faustino, however he said the Jae Tips collaboration “could show up before then.”
What’s more, aside from Jae Tips’ collaboration, Faustino said the return of the Matrix model is arriving “at a pivotal time for the brand.”
“[Brian] designed the Matrix to unite Originals and performance as one brand, which we are owning more than ever with so much excitement surrounding both our leading performance product and new lifestyle offerings,” Faustino explained. “Consumers are so fluid and aligning with our values of living a healthy, positive, active lifestyle, while also caring about their style and personal expression through progressive designs from our archive.”
After the release of the Jae Tips and Saucony Originals Grid Azura 2000 “Remember Who Fronted” collaboration in May 2023, the two reunited to deliver two colorways of the Grid Shadow 2, dubbed “What’s the Occassion?” Their second collaboration debuted at ComplexCon in November 2023.
About the Author
Peter Verry is the Senior News and Features Editor for Athletic and Outdoor at Footwear News. He oversees coverage of the two fast-paced and ultracompetitive markets, which includes conducting in-depth interviews with industry leaders and writing stories on sneakers and outdoor shoes. He is a lifelong sneaker addict (and shares his newest purchases via @peterverry on Instagram) and spends most of his free time on a trail. He holds an M.A. in journalism from Hofstra University and can be reached at peter.verry@footwearnews.com.