Pony "Sole Collector Special Blend"

In 2009, Sole Collector partnered with Pony to produce a limited special edition built around a grey and neon color combination on what was otherwise a quiet, under-the-radar Pony silhouette. The collaboration sat outside the major hype cycles of that era, when the conversation was largely dominated by Nike, adidas, and a handful of New Balance projects, making this release a deliberately low-key entry point for collectors who followed the magazine closely.

Sole Collector had established itself as one of the more credible editorial voices in sneaker media by that point, and its occasional forays into physical product were treated as extensions of that editorial identity rather than commercial plays. The Special Blend name fit that approach, suggesting something mixed and considered rather than mass-produced.

The grey base keeps the shoe grounded and wearable, while the neon accents give it enough visual contrast to read as a collector’s piece without leaning into the kind of loud design language that defined some of that period’s more aggressively marketed collaborations. The choice to work with Pony rather than a larger brand reinforced the sense that the release was aimed at a specific, knowledgeable audience rather than a broad retail market.

Pony’s presence in the collector space has always been intermittent, surfacing through targeted collaborations and limited runs rather than sustained retail momentum. This particular project fits that pattern, existing more as a document of a specific moment in sneaker media culture than as a flagship statement from either party involved.