Introducing Hops Sportswear
All the way from Australia, Hops Sportswear is the latest basketball brand to enter the US market. Operating for 3 years and based in the city of Melbourne which is the stronghold of basketball in Australia.
Hops founder Matt Kaipuke, is a former pro player and developed Hops with the aim to make high quality footwear at affordable prices. “Most players competing at a non-professional level can’t afford to pay $100+ for sneakers. We believe our price point and original design will entice people to try us out”.
Hops teamed up with International designer Pietro Pellicelli, aka Peterflight who was selected as Kicksguide artist of the year in 2005. Kaipuke says “Pietro brings that Italian flair in his designs with original concepts and thinking. When I looked at all the portfolios of designers on Kicksguide, his jumped out at me. Pietro and I started working on Hops in 2006 and we took our time working on prototypes and samples making sure we got it right.”
Offered in the Hops range are 3 Mids at $74.99 and 2 Low cuts at $69.99, all aimed at high performance on the court. Shoes are made from 100% natural leather that, through research gives longer wear and is better for your feet than many of the natural synthetic materials used today by other brands.
Hops Ol Skool Mid (pictured).
Besides a unique design Hops offers original technology with the “Medial Wing. “This engineered design offers extra support when moving aggressively on the court. Research suggests that “when a player moves laterally they are prone to movements that can place stress on their feet and ankles. The Wing will help keep your foot more stable and planted when moving laterally, which can eliminate that stress.” Sizing is well covered starting at US6 through to US16, with their fit similar to mainstream brands like Nike and Asics.
What are the general comments in Australia about Hops? Kaipuke says “Our customers are pleasantly surprised with the lightweight feel of our sneakers and how extremely comfortable they are which can be attributed to using 100% natural leather on all our sneakers”. We also use Poron for shock absorption and a new lightweight EVA that combined works well for the player.
Hops USA launch is tomorrow, August 17th. A Hops Sportswear review will be posted on CounterKicks.com soon. Head over to hopsportswear.com for more info.
Go to hopsportswear.com for more information and your chance to win a free pair of Hops by answering a few questions in their short survey.
Category: News, Other Shoes
oh my… is that the Jordan Flypside or the Adidas KG or a Jordan XII? lol negative ghost writer
Michael Jordan rocked HOPS when he won the Super Bowl back in 1987 playing linebacker for the Calgary Flames. Made 33 half court shots in the last period and had three saves as the back up goalie even though he wasn’t wearing a cup. Gotta try em out just because of the history behind em.
seriously, it’s stuff like this I buy just to have ONE pair for ten years from now when this company’s long forgotten…..
boooooooooooooooo lol @tm
lebron in cleveland booooooooooooooo!
Mike Jordan rocked HOPS b4? Really? I thought I juss read sumthin like HOPS was still being invented in the early 90s.. Ive seen pics of 23 rocking Converse back in the days.. Anyways.. My opinion, HOPS RESEMBLES SKECHERS! With all due respect, I expected better from Australia.. I guess Im juss spoiled due to all the nice shoes released here in the US.. I’ve seen some great shoe designs from Old skool to latest style from countries like Philippines, Japan and China. And I bet there’s more out there that we’ve seen.. Ok Countries of the World, TIME FOR WORLD SNEAKER FESTIVAL. If they have WBF then it’s juss right to have a world sneaker fest!!
LOL@MTs “negative ghostwriter” comment and TMs “history” lesson
I’ll buy a pair of these, if they’re comfortable. Comfort+less than 100 dollars= my interest.
DIDNT THESE HAVE GREEN LACES BEFORE????
WHAT HAPPEND TO THE GREEN LACES???
SOMEBODY PLEASE HELP!!!!!!!
LMAO
Did MJ^^^ jus fall for TM sarcasim???? Lol damn gotchya bro… For more lessons from the 3rd dimension go to Tokyo Mikes tsg page n find out how Pela use to pitch for the dogers n had his own airmax!!!!
And ceaser Chavez had a reebok pump back in the 70′s when he use to thai box in Harlem
Sounds like the dudes from Protege’ went to Australia!
That’s why here in 2012 they cost $120 on their website?