Jonathan Anderson's "cabinet of curiosities" has a new tenant: Color-blocked sneakers. In a surprise collaboration with Italian footwear brand Diadora, JW Anderson is dipping its toe back into the world of collaborative sneakers, this time with a color-clashing runner that maintains just enough harmony to look elegant but enough contrast to turn heads. 

The Equipe is a high-performance runner created by Diadora in 1975 for track athletes, and now JW Anderson has drizzled its signature quirky panache all over the relatively undersung sneaker. This is a collaboration 50 years in the making.

Slim and low to the ground, JW Anderson's Equipe sneaker wears multi-colored suede panels that bring some kitschy charm to the otherwise understated sneaker.

This harmonious clashing is a hallmark for JW Anderson, who knows how to get quite wonky where its clothing and accessories are concerned.

Remember those Fall/Winter 2026 "PORN" tote bags? Exactly. To say that JW Anderson lives outside of the box would be a bit of an understatement. So, it's only right that this flair for the extravagant extends into sneakers as well, even if this manifestation is a bit more SFW.

While this sneaker didn't get a lot of attention when it first hit the runway, a little commotion for the sneaker is well overdue. After all, this is JW Anderson's first collaborative sneaker in over a decade. If that's not a hoopla-worthy endeavor, then what is?

What makes this collaboration even more subversive is the relative abruptness JW Anderson picked its partner out of. In the past, JW Anderson oversaw several sneaker partnerships with Converse but after those ended nearly a decade ago, its Wellipets clogs were the sole footwear crossover. And then... nothing. Until now.

Now, Diadora isn't new by any stretch of the imagination. Diadora has been around since 1948, existing as a consistent footwear staple within the Italian sportswear scene and beyond. 

But even though the brand has some decades under its belt, it's still a lowkey name in the sneaker game. It's an "IYKYK" brand unless you’re in Europe or really tapped into tennis, more of an unsung constant that plays its part as a reliable runner of quality footwear. It does occasionally engage in collaborative drops, typically with tastefully sporty retailers like Extra Butter and END. with bonafides in the footwear biz or European market — or both.

This is what makes JWA's collaborative Equipe sneaker, available on the JW Anderson and Diadora websites for €390 from May 15, such a delightful oddity. By most conventional methods, Diadora comes feels like a left-field collaborator.

But it is this exact unknown charm that makes Diadora the perfect partner for JW Anderson. If defying convention is your bread and butter, what better partner than a sneaker brand no one has ever heard of?

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