A Cascadia Grows on Orchard Street: Brooks x EB Premiere the Next Coveted Commodity
Lower East Side, New York City. Twenty-somethings, clad in vintage slouchy sweaters and low-rise baggy denim, queue up on a narrow sidewalk. The flash of digital cameras. The buzz of an exciting debut. A fusion of '90s R&B and friendly chatter permeates the humid city air. Across the street, passersby stop to stare at the theater marquee: “Extra Butter Brooks Cascadia 18.”
Could it be the premiere of this summer’s hottest blockbuster? Yes, but perhaps not in the way you’re thinking.
Don’t let the red carpet and flashbulbs fool you—there is no film premiere. Not in the traditional sense, at least. For these Big Apple movers and shakers, this event is something even greater. More hotly anticipated. Sartorially groundbreaking.
The leading lady of tonight stands proudly on display as a crowd of archival vintage wearers stream into Extra Butter’s Orchard Street flagship. Wearing bold accents of lime green, she stands out from her surroundings. This is her night. This is years in the making. And needless to say, she’s ready to hit the ground running.
Her name is Cascadia, and she’s the latest viral drop from Brooks, the signature running brand, in collaboration with Extra Butter, a Downtown streetwear boutique with a knack for cinematic displays.
The Extra Butter x Cascadia 18 is a fresh addition to Brooks’ award-winning collection of running shoes. Renowned by athletes for its multi-terrain traction and celebrated by stylists for its street-style appeal, the Cascadia 18 has only recently landed on every sneakerhead’s radar but has already ascended to Insta-cop status. Designed to take its wearer from an early morning West Side Highway run to splashy evening fashion affairs, the city’s most stylish entourage rocked up for their first glance at their next wardrobe essential.
Fashion is more social than ever this year—literally and figuratively. With the rapidly rising popularity of run clubs and TikTok fit checks, Brooks’ new launch has been expertly timed. Since the running boom of the 1970s, Brooks has maintained its stance at the forefront of need-based design for runners and has never shied away from expert feedback. Heavy soles? Swap out rubber for lightweight EVA in the Vantage, the first Brooks shoe to hit #1 in Runners World in 1977. Overpronation? Throw in the Progressive Diagonal Rollbar introduced in the Adrenaline GTS 4 to prevent pronation from the outside in. This shoe also went on to become Brooks' best-selling shoe in 2002.
Every runner’s dilemma has been resolved by design, including today. We, the people, want shoes to take us from day to night, activewear to streetwear—no changes necessary. As per usual, the legendary running shoe label heard us.
That’s where Extra Butter enters the scene. With a certified chokehold over the city’s streetwear enthusiasts, the retailer prioritizes stories—and we don’t mean the 10-second Instagram feature. For Millennials and Gen Z alike, the streetwear purveyor brings products to life by perfectly depicting exactly how they fuse into the wearer’s lifestyle. Take a look at their in-house cinema, for starters: 12 plush vintage seats plus a projector and sound for the full theater effect. For Extra Butter’s trendy clientele, they were the expert partner to infuse Brooks running shoes into the Downtown scene as a streetwear staple.
Cut to the Extra Butter launch party, where a longhaired chiseled cheekbone beauty and a pixie cut baddie snag beverages from their checkout-counter-turned-evening bar. They swap their cans of Topo Chico and Stella Artois, settling with the can that best matches their respective outfits. A baseball-capped man swaggers over to the duo. Hugs. Squeals. Smiles. They exchange their “so good to see yous” and compliments on their latest career endeavors recently published to their much-followed social media accounts. Something laudable and undoubtedly fashionable.
Weaving their way past Stretch Armstrong’s DJ booth and pockets of conversing old friends, they make their way to the true showpiece of the evening: a floor-to-ceiling display wall of Cascadia 18 in all her multicolored, meshy glory. Conversation dwindles as they examine tonight’s star. Along the wall, Cascadia is laced up in neon green, toe box gently curving upwards, alighting daydreams of rugged Upstate trail runs and sweaty Ridgewood raves in the minds of her arbiters.
The trio turns to face the sneaker wall, examining the buzzy release before the rest of the world can—a privilege allotted only to the Instagram enigmas and Downtown debutantes among us. Cameras flash over their shoulders. For once, it wasn’t to photograph their chic ensembles. C’mon, there’s a bigger star in the picture here. Positioned for one last highly requested photo-op, Cascadia stands tall, already keenly aware of the commotion she’s soon to cause, from the cross-country trails to the concrete footpaths and everything in between.
Shop the Brooks x Extra Butter Cascadia 18 available now on brooksrunning.com and extrabutterny.com.
