Reebok InstaPump Fury Millennium 'Metallic Bronze'
Colorway: Sleek Metallic/Black · Style code: DV4601 · Release date: April 6, 2019 · Price: $108 · Availability: Available now
Reebok's Pump arrived on 24 November 1989 with an inflatable bladder inside the tongue, an idea adapted from an Ellesse ski boot with help from the design firm Design Continuum. Its purpose was fit. Pressing the button forced air into a chamber that closed the shoe around the foot and ankle, and a valve let it out again. Dee Brown inflating a pair on court at the 1991 slam dunk contest gave the technology a demonstration no advertisement could have bought.
The Instapump Fury, launched in 1994, pushed the idea to its conclusion. If the bladder holds the foot, laces are redundant, so the Fury has none. What is left is a split midsole, an exposed pump chamber and an upper that looks unfinished by conventional standards.
The Millennium is a separate chapter. Reebok released it in 2001 as a slimmed-down reworking of the Fury, narrower through the profile and more flexible in the forefoot, and this release reproduces that version one-to-one rather than the 1994 original.
It returned on 6 April 2019 at 170 dollars, in a metallic and black finish with DMX cushioning inside a lightweight EVA midsole. The palette suits a shoe that has always been more object than footwear.