Teyana Taylor and Reebok have made it official: Following the success of her Question Mid Teyana T sneaker last year, the sportswear company announced it inked a year-long deal with the actress, singer, dancer, and mother to our favorite pint-sized Insta-star @babyjunie4.
"[Taylor] is a risk-taker who brings her own perspective to every project and she stands uniquely at the intersection of fashion, music and fitness, which are the core tenets of Reebok Classic," Todd Krinsky, global vice president of Reebok Classic and Entertainment, said in a statement. "This partnership continues to solidify Reebok’s commitment to women who express themselves through confidence in style."
So, we can expect to see Taylor repping the Reebok Classics collection — specifically, the relaunch of the brand's Freestyle sneaker — as well as fronting some campaigns. To kick it off, Reebok released an '80s-style dance video quite reminiscent of Kanye West's Fade, of course, with Taylor once again showing us she has way better moves than we do.
"Reebok has always been a brand that’s been very special to my heart ever since I was young," explained Taylor. "Freestyles were all I wanted to wear growing up so it feels like everything’s come full circle with this partnership. The 5411’s really opened the door for creativity in women’s fashion, it gave permission for sneakers to be feminine." Hey, if it gets us a step closer to being Teyana Taylor, sign us up.
Check out our interview with Taylor from the launch of the Question Mid Teyana T's, below.
This story was originally published on October 19, 2016.
Prior to the release of Kanye West's music video for his Life Of Pablo single "Fade," Teyana Taylor had a laundry list of entertainment industry cameos — choreography for Beyoncé's "Ring The Alarm," vocals on Yeezy's My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, and a role as judge on America's Best Dance Crew. But it wasn't until the 25-year-old performer's scantily clad dance — and appearing as a human-sized cat alongside her NBA-player husband, Iman Shumpert, and their 9-month-old daugher, Insta-famous @babyjunie4 (Taylor tells me, "Man. She is a mess. She got the nerve to be verified. I’m like, 'Who do you think you are?' She got the juice.") — that she actually, well, went viral. On the heels of her (unofficial) New York Fashion Week tour, Taylor has taken her style chops one step further with a new sneaker collection with Reebok. And if you need any further clarification of how influential she has become, her kicks, named the Question Mid Teyana T (and are a modern-day update of Allen Iverson's OG pair) sold out almost immediately. "Well, my favorite color’s red, as you can see," Taylor said of her shoes. "So when they told me I was — I looked at the designer and I said, 'Okay, look. It needs to be this, I want this kind of material, I want these kind of bottoms.' They were like, 'Damn, you gotta sign your contract first. You gotta say yes first.' But I was so excited, I kind of just got straight to the point. It’s kind of a big moment for me, because everybody that knows me knows I love sneakers and knows that I love the ‘90s. I love throwback basketball sneakers." It would make sense then, that Taylor, a New York City native (and wife of a Cleveland Cavaliers player) would gravitate towards a more sports-oriented aesthetic. Yet, when it comes to getting dressed, she swears that she "just goes with the flow." "I don’t really have a sense of style. [I'm from] New York, so we automatically got that 'too cool for school' swag," she says. "It’s just in our veins from growing up here. But I think right now, I’ve really just been into oversized T-shirts and maybe some cut jeans. Every pair of jeans I own have holes in the knee. And a good pair of sneakers. Me and my boyfriend — well, me and my husband — we share clothes. We dress like twins sometimes." And though her present-day life may be in the spotlight 24/7, Taylor is no stranger to being in front of the camera — die-hard fans will remember her from the MTV hit My Super Sweet 16, which, as I told her, was the most epic icebreaker, ever. (Just look at this dress. And of course she's wearing sneakers.) "Ah, the Barbie box. It's crazy, because [that show] is how people in fashion really got to know who I was. And as you could see, I was too cool for school on there. I wasn’t even really that much of a brat. I just got mad, because it was supposed to be a skateboard, '80s/'90s-themed party, and I didn’t get a skateboard ramp. So I was like, 'Come on.' "You would watch the other girls get mad about every little thing, but I was only mad about one thing. [Do I think] MTV set that up? They set me up, because the whole episode, I didn’t get mad about anything. So they kind of like...I think they purposefully took that away from me. But it was a fun experience, I had a good time. "Today, I kinda watch it and just be like, 'Oh my god. That was me?'"
Prior to the release of Kanye West's music video for his Life Of Pablo single "Fade," Teyana Taylor had a laundry list of entertainment industry cameos — choreography for Beyoncé's "Ring The Alarm," vocals on Yeezy's My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, and a role as judge on America's Best Dance Crew. But it wasn't until the 25-year-old performer's scantily clad dance — and appearing as a human-sized cat alongside her NBA-player husband, Iman Shumpert, and their 9-month-old daugher, Insta-famous @babyjunie4 (Taylor tells me, "Man. She is a mess. She got the nerve to be verified. I’m like, 'Who do you think you are?' She got the juice.") — that she actually, well, went viral. On the heels of her (unofficial) New York Fashion Week tour, Taylor has taken her style chops one step further with a new sneaker collection with Reebok. And if you need any further clarification of how influential she has become, her kicks, named the Question Mid Teyana T (and are a modern-day update of Allen Iverson's OG pair) sold out almost immediately. "Well, my favorite color’s red, as you can see," Taylor said of her shoes. "So when they told me I was — I looked at the designer and I said, 'Okay, look. It needs to be this, I want this kind of material, I want these kind of bottoms.' They were like, 'Damn, you gotta sign your contract first. You gotta say yes first.' But I was so excited, I kind of just got straight to the point. It’s kind of a big moment for me, because everybody that knows me knows I love sneakers and knows that I love the ‘90s. I love throwback basketball sneakers." It would make sense then, that Taylor, a New York City native (and wife of a Cleveland Cavaliers player) would gravitate towards a more sports-oriented aesthetic. Yet, when it comes to getting dressed, she swears that she "just goes with the flow." "I don’t really have a sense of style. [I'm from] New York, so we automatically got that 'too cool for school' swag," she says. "It’s just in our veins from growing up here. But I think right now, I’ve really just been into oversized T-shirts and maybe some cut jeans. Every pair of jeans I own have holes in the knee. And a good pair of sneakers. Me and my boyfriend — well, me and my husband — we share clothes. We dress like twins sometimes." And though her present-day life may be in the spotlight 24/7, Taylor is no stranger to being in front of the camera — die-hard fans will remember her from the MTV hit My Super Sweet 16, which, as I told her, was the most epic icebreaker, ever. (Just look at this dress. And of course she's wearing sneakers.) "Ah, the Barbie box. It's crazy, because [that show] is how people in fashion really got to know who I was. And as you could see, I was too cool for school on there. I wasn’t even really that much of a brat. I just got mad, because it was supposed to be a skateboard, '80s/'90s-themed party, and I didn’t get a skateboard ramp. So I was like, 'Come on.' "You would watch the other girls get mad about every little thing, but I was only mad about one thing. [Do I think] MTV set that up? They set me up, because the whole episode, I didn’t get mad about anything. So they kind of like...I think they purposefully took that away from me. But it was a fun experience, I had a good time. "Today, I kinda watch it and just be like, 'Oh my god. That was me?'"