Funny name aside, Berlin-based Jeckybeng is one of the more interesting international brands playing in the outdoor space right now. Inspired by what they call the urban outdoor movement, the fashion-forward brand makes apparel, outerwear, and equipment styled for the city but functional in the outdoors too. Epitomizing this is the new Marathon sneaker, created in collaboration with OG Slovakian footwear brand Novesta.
The second footwear collab between the two European brands, the Marathon is inspired by a vintage design originally created for the Czechoslovak Olympic Games Team for the 1988 Seoul Olympics. To bring the OG marathon model up to speed–and make it adventure appropriate—Jeckybeng introduced a whole range of sustainable, functional, and natural materials, including traditional Portuguese felted burl wool and durable waxed organic cotton.
Each shoe is made in Novesta’s historic factory in in Partizánske—110 km east of the Slovak capital Bratislava—on a platform of 100% natural rubber, chosen for its ability to avoid unnecessary release of micro plastic particles (a 2018 study found the abrasion of shoe sole to be ranked 7th of the annual per capita ejections of microplastic, with the abrasion of car tires remaining the undisputed number one) and its impressive natural traction capabilities.
In short, the new Marathon is a weatherproof, outdoors-inclined shoe disguised as a fashion sneaker. And it’s very very good.
