Dreamville isnāt a place, but it is a state. Energies and possibilities and opportunities run endlessly in Dreamville. Or is at Dreamville? Or is it through Dreamville?
Ib Hamad is coming to us live from Dreamville, teeming with positivity. The President of Dreamville has been living in the dream since the very beginning. Heās seen six different number one albums, some Grammy love and a signature sneaker. And heās smiling about that sneaker, the PUMA RS-Dreamer.
āOne thing with Cole, anybody that knows him, he thinks so far ahead,ā Hamad tells SLAM. āI remember years ago when he was like, āMan, Iām gonna have my own basketball sneaker.ā And I used to be like, āThat sounds crazy.ā But I never doubted it because I know that his willāheās the ultimate dreamer. Out of anyone Iāve ever known, Iāve never seen anyone that can really set his mind to things and get it done, even when it seems ridiculous. From when we went to college and heās like, āIām gonna get signed.ā And people was like, āYeah, whatever.ā The idea was flown around for him for so long that by the time it happened and you see that logo and you hold the sneaker and youāre looking, like, āDamn, this guy really set his mind to it.ā It was more the feeling ofā obviously the sneakerās incredible, itās a beautiful sneakerābut itās the feeling of the journey.ā
āWhen we started our work with both Cole and Ib on the RS-Dreamer, we knew that in order for the franchise to be a success, they were going to be intimate partners in every step of the creative process,ā Adam Petrick, Global Director of Brand and Marketing at PUMA, tells SLAM. āTheir creative vision, connection to culture, and authentic attitudes gave this shoe and launch an unrivaled approach. We wanted to ensure that Coleās vision and dream was brought to life and we feel pretty confident that it was.ā
The RS-Dreamer is packed with all of PUMAās best tech, including RS foam in the ProFoam midsole and a knitted upper with suede accents.
It originally dropped during the summer, but itās back by popular demand in even greater quantities.
āWe are really excited that we can bring the RS-Dreamer back to our consumers and fans after such a successful initial launch,ā Petrick says. āThis time last year at All-Star Weekend Cole wore the RS-Dreamer for the very first time and so we thought it was a nice moment to bring the model back.ā
āWhen it first came out I donāt think we knew what to expect and it just sold out it in minutes, it went crazy,ā Hamad adds. āAnd people wanted it bad. You want people to have it, you want people to play basketball, you want people to wear it out when they go out with their friends and to rob them of that experience because it sold out so quick didnāt feel right.ā
The launch colorway returns with the DREAMER logo on the heel. Itās been the motto from the very jump. And though Cole and Hamad didnāt know it at the time, the word fits in perfectly with them. āDreamā originates from Middle English in the 13th century. Its first meaning can be traced back to āmusic.ā
With a big laugh, Hamad says that he isnāt aware of the etymology of ādream.ā
āBut Iāll tell you what a ādreamerā means to me because I think everybodyās going to interpret it differently and look at it differently,ā he continues. āFor me, itās just someone that doesnāt allow things or people or energies to get in the way of what they want to do or what they want to accomplish, whether small or big. Iāve always had the utmost respect for people that just kinda could put they head down and be like I donāt care what you say, I donāt care what he says or she says, what they believe. I donāt care if it seem ridiculous. Iām gonna get it done. Thatās sort of what a dreamer is.ā
So live from the state of/in/at Dreams, a pawn became a king with just a dollar and something elseā¦
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