There’s always a certain charm in beat-up sneakers. Scuffed suede, faded panels, a patina that’s grown more intricate with every wear... sometimes a shoe only reveals its true self after it’s been through it.

The City Jeans x adidas Gazelle Indoor “Diamond in the Rough” lets you skip the waiting. The collab comes wrapped in navy ripstop that tears away to reveal powder blue suede underneath, a neat trick that turns the Gazelle into a kind of sneaker striptease. 

There is even a “start here” heel tag and a permanent pull tab, just in case you need directions before ripping into your shoes.

The name is not random. “Diamond in the Rough” nods to City Jeans, a Bronx retail institution known as much for denim as it is for its community. 

The Bronx has always carried that duality, tough on the surface but peel it back and you find a place that birthed hip-hop, streetwear, and endless creativity.

The Gazelle’s interactive design riffs on that same energy.

Set to drop this fall for $135 via adidas, the City Jeans collab joins a lineage of peel-away sneakers like Nike SB’s Dunk “Tearaway” pack and Jordan Brand’s “Self-Expression” models, pairs that only get more colorful the more you destroy them.

And it could not land at a better time. The Gazelle is in its shapeshifting era, from furry experiments to Italian-made dress-shoe hybrids, so why not a Bronx edition that literally tears itself apart to reveal something new?

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