When we got the chance to speak with Phil from Unheardof we had to ask about a certain blue and pink Piggy runner… there’s hardly any info out there about this shoe, but collectors have been buzzing. “What is this? Tell me more!” It showed up on StockX, but here’s the catch: Phillips personal pair is literally the only one in existence. More than just a grail, this shoe carries a story that spans years of design across numerous brands and has a deep personal connection. What started as a bold personal story turned into a unique prototype that never hit production, making it a one-of-a-kind treasure with a fascinating backstory you’re about to hear straight from the source.
How did this sample sneaker come about?
So this shoe was supposed to drop alongside the Rivalry Bridge. I mocked this up years ago. I actually got a phone call from Nike around 2016 or 2017. They asked me, “If you could design a shoe, what would it be? What would it look like? And can you send it in by tomorrow?” So I stayed up all night and built a full deck. A whole presentation. I can pull up some screen shots and send them to you. But I definitely pitched an Air Max 1 with an Air Max 90 outsole. I also pitched an Air Max 98. I gave them options. I said:
- If I could pull a shoe out of the archive: I’d do the Skylon.
- If I had to use a shoe that’s currently in the marketplace: I’d do the Air Max 98.
- If I could work with one that’s not in focus but readily possible: I’d do an Air Max 1, but with a 90 sole.
At the time, Nike SB was releasing Dunk Low colourways as Dunk Highs and vice versa. So I thought: how cool would it be to switch the soles too? This was before Sean Wortherspoons infamous 97/1. Maybe Sean and I just had the same idea at the same time. It happens. Just two people on the same wavelength.
So the pair you’re holding was the original sample colourways for the pack?
The first sample of the Rivalry? Honestly, it was whack. Looked like this… Look at the tongue, see how bad it is? We just couldn’t get the materials right. The base of the bridge, where it hits the water? Totally different shape, different colour, different size bricks than the arches up top. That’s why I did it this way. By the second sample, though, it started to come together.
This version has a brown outsole to represent the muddy river water during winter floods. In the summer, when the water’s lower, it clears up and looks more blue. Originally, the outsole was meant to be a bit greener, but my staff and I looked at this and were like, this is it. It even matched the top of the bridge. Structurally though? Still not there yet. But now, now we’re starting to really dial in the structure. We’ve got the padded tongue, the lace hold is strong, it’s starting to take shape. It doesn’t even look like a Rivalry anymore, it’s starting to look more and more like a skate shoe, which was exactly the idea. I wanted the shoe to be skateable, because I literally skated across that bridge.
I threw this concept in because, one, I wear running shoes. I wear retro runners. The reason I even brought retro runners into my store as skate shoes is because after skating all day, your feet are toast. So you’d throw on a pair of runners. That’s just what we did. Retro running sneakers have always stood out to me. But Adidas? They don’t really have that kind of business in North America. There’s no real lifestyle retro running presence, people just don’t collect them or gravitate toward them like that.
So I thought, “If this shoe flops, at least I’ve still got the story, the bridge is represented in the blue, the pig is me, Pork Chop, skating across the bridge.” It all connects.
On the insole of the piggy runner, you’ve got the piggy running across the bridge. And then on the Rivalry insole, he’s skateboarding underneath the bridge. That’s the Serpentine Wall, which is a skate spot right under the bridge. So that’s where my journey started. I skated across that bridge. Now I’m 40, I’ve matured, I’ve retired from skateboarding. Now I run across that bridge. That’s why I wanted a running shoe to go with the skate shoe. And then it became a pack…
So how come the Piggy Runner dropped separately?
So I coloured up this one, and then I was like, just for shits and giggles, “If I can trick Adidas into letting me drop two colourways, I’ll make a solid pink pair, and a solid blue one.” The pink represents the pig. The blue represents the bridge. So all three came in, and I just looked at them and thought, Damn, this is fucking sick. But when you get an opportunity like this, and it could be your last opportunity, you’ve got to make it count.
Do you make 1,500 pairs of just this shoe? Or do you do 2,000 of this one and 1,000 of the blue pair, and now you’re selling both shoes? That’s 3,000 pairs total. You gotta go with the best option, right? Because you just don’t know if tomorrow’s opportunity is promised.
So eventually you decided to drop 2 colourways?
So I had the Adidas Piggy Runner and the adidas Rivalry “Building Bridges”, and then they got separated. They ended up getting lost at sea, literally. This was during that time when factories were running over capacity, ports were shut down, China was on strike, COVID kicked back up… it was out of my hands. Both shoes have the same sample dates. But the others just showed up way later. So that delay was a happy accident, because the original Adidas Rivalry ended up being limited and set the stage.
So yeah, there might have been 1,200 Rivalries made. But we released 1,000 as the official number. Because the whole order? It never shows up. Some pairs get stolen in warehouses, some at the ports, some fall off the boat, literally So while production might have hit 1,200, we only officially released 1,000 pairs.
And the pink and the blue shoes were just so good. Every merchandiser and category manager I was working with at Adidas, especially in the Lifestyle Running department, was saying, “Dude, the blue and the pink are incredible. You have to make those colours.” And then after the release, they were all like, “Damn, you should’ve made a thousand pairs of each.”
And I was like, Yeah, I would’ve loved to, but y’all capped me on what I was allowed to do at that time!
So I went into it thinking, “This might be my last hurrah. I want to make something that leaves a mark.” That’s why I doubled down on the two colourways that had matching storytelling, matching colour blocking, and shared DNA. And then I kept the original as a secret, displayed it at the art show, and just watched how people reacted. Now I’ve got all this feedback. So if the opportunity comes around to revisit that idea, whether it’s directly or just inspired by it, I’ve got a roadmap. That was the play.
Were there any other samples made for that shoe? Or was it just the three, and then straight into production?
The Bridge shoe had four or five samples. The Piggy Runners only took two samples and only 1 is this special pink/blue. They only needed two samples. This pair is the only one like it. The pink sample has no pig head embroidered, no eyes on the back. Those were added later. But this one? It was one and done.
How did the event come around for the release?
The event really came together organically. Once we knew the shoes were ready and that Adidas was on board with the rollout, we wanted to do something that felt authentic and rooted in community. It wasn’t about selling the product, it was about telling the full story, face to face. So we built the event around that idea: putting the shoes on display, letting people experience the design process, the storytelling, the emotion behind it. We treated it like an art show, no big celebrity drop or overhyped rollout, just a raw, honest celebration of the work.
Why is the sample Piggy Runner on StockX?
There’s really no info out there about this pair so I assume they just did it. All the collectors are like, “Yo, tell me more about it.” They see it on StockX or the odd post and message me about it. Yes, it’s on StockX. But this is the only pair in existence!
What will you do with the single sample?
People ask “When’s the next runner? When’s the next rivalry?” But I’m done with rivalries. I’m cooking up new things now that I’m super excited about. That shoe, the sample Piggy Runner, was really about putting it on display, having those face-to-face conversations, and testing the waters. Seeing people react to it in real life made me think: Am I really onto something here? Could this be bigger? Could I get better at this? For now it will sit here so I can enjoy it.