As 2024 closed to an end, publications everywhere put out their “Best of the Year” lists, and though there were lists for films, TV shows, and albums, the ones that I paid the most attention to were for sneakers. Sneaker lists tend to fall into two camps — either listing the obvious popular choices or just sharing affiliate links — but the best lists remind you of shoes you forgot or overlooked or didn’t appreciate enough.

I like to write my best-of list a little later, so I can try some pairs I missed, and make sure I get those that everyone else ignored; and one of those are the Reebok LTD x Botter Energia Bo Kèts. 

Released in April, they are a collaborative pair between Reebok’s special edition line, Reebok LTD, and the Paris-based fashion house Botter. Founded in 2017 by Caribbean-born designers Rushemy Botter and Lisi Herrebrugh, the brand mixes elements of high-end European fashion with the style of their local Caribbean culture — namely, taking inspiration from soccer style, and the ocean — and they have collaborated with Reebok for a few years now, making limited runs of unreleased shoes for their shows. The Energia Bo Kèts are their first pair to be released to the public, and they look fantastic.

Namely, they blend classic popular sneaker elements — the high outsole from basketball sneakers and the weatherproofed toe guard from hiking shoes, which wraps around the side — with the upper materials and design of a classic Reebok archival soccer boot. This extends to the oversized tongue — which straps down around the contoured rubber sole — and the colorways, with the pink and blue and yellow and blue looking right off the court. There is also a pure black pair, which is a bit too boring for my taste, and the white and cream pair, which is gorgeous but looks similar to the famous Off-White Jordan 4.

It’s a beautiful shoe and one of my favorite designs released this year, but it was also a rather bad buy. Namely, the outsole is much stiffer than it should be, the ankle has little padding, and the upper materials crinkle quickly, meaning they’re not comfortable to walk in, and they don’t look great if you do. And none of this mentions the tongue.

There ought to have been a groove made into the outsole for the strap to go through, and the strap should have been thicker; but instead, it wraps around the outsole, meaning the tongue moves a lot as you walk, and the strap dirties and can easily break.

And the shoes weren’t cheap either, retailing at $330. As I say, they’re a beautiful-looking pair, but I hope Botter puts more thought into function and comfort when they release their next sneaker.