Earlier this week, Sneaker News broke an exclusive story that nobody saw coming—and, at once, has become increasingly commonplace in the sneaker world these days. According to the site’s sources, 2025 is going to see the re-release of one of the rarest pairs of kicks from the last decade: the Scarr’s Pizza x Nike Air Force 1, originally released back in 2019. If you’re wondering how you missed the SNKRS drop on these… well, you didn’t. Co-designed by esteemed sneakerhead and New York icon DJ Clark Kent, the shoe was never released to the public. Instead, a hyper-limited supply was made exclusively for pizzeria owner Scarr Pimental and his closest friends and family.
Exclusive releases like these have long made up some of the more legendary colorways in the history of sneakers. In an industry built on the idea of equal opportunity and accessibility (“idea” being the keyword there–it’s rarely made practice), especially in the digital era, knowing that no number of raffle entries, brand plugs, or amount of money in your bank account could improve your chances of getting a pair of shoes tends to drive sneakerheads to a pair of shoes with rare ferocity. The Scarr’s AF1s are no exception–a pair sold at Sotheby’s in 2021 for a whopping $121,649. That’s enough to set you up with a slice a day at Scarr’s for the rest of your life.
Even a year ago, a story like this would’ve seemed utterly implausible (and to be fair, DJ Clark Kent reached out to Sneaker News to deny the rumor–though the publication insists its sources aren’t wrong about this one). These days though, it feels par for the course. 2024 has seen nearly half a dozen of the most sought-after sneakers of all time (many of which were never released to the public) get teased for wider releases.
The most notable is the infamous Nike ‘Wu-Tang’ Dunk, which originally dropped 25 years ago and was limited to just 36 pairs for the Clan and their friends and family. Some sort of wider release has been teased for the fall, though details remain sparse. There were only 72 pairs of the Air Jordan 4 x UNDFTD released back in 2005, the first time the two brands had ever collaborated. 2025 will allegedly see the shoe hit shelves once more. And less than a day after the Scarr’s AF1 news broke, rumors of a wide release for the Sony PlayStation Air Force 1, of which only 150 pairs were made for a handful of Sony employees around the release of the PlayStation 3.
These shoes could easily make up someone’s Mount Rushmore of sneakers, the sort you could only dream of owning unless you hit big on a lottery ticket. Fans have spent decades–decades, plural–lusting over them. So why does their wide release seem to have ruffled more feathers than not? Well, for many, the inaccessibility is the point. What makes a shoe like the Scarr’s AF1 special is the fact that not everyone can have it. Sneakerheads are territorial and often deferential to legend, yes. But the sentiment of wanting something to remain unique is universal in collector culture. There’s a reason you can’t just get a Shohei Ohtani card in every single pack of baseball cards.
There are absolutely a ton of iconic shoes that should get perennial retros every few years. Nobody’s trying to gatekeep the Air Jordan 3 ‘Black Cement’ (which, by the way, is hitting shelves for the first time since 2018 this November). And it’s worth noting that until official announcements come, these are all rumors. Even the somewhat-confirmed Wu-Tang retro is sparse on details. For all we know it’ll be a release similar to the Nike Air Mag from Back to the Future, which has been released in limited quantities twice (1,500 in 2011 and 89 in 2016) and auctioned to raise proceeds for charity.
Still, even with the (perhaps justified) grousing, one thing’s for sure: anybody who cares about the Scarr’s Pizza Air Force 1 will at the very least be looking up release details should the drop be confirmed. Until then, well, maybe some things are still sacred.