How Alien: Romulus Brought a Major Reebok Sneaker Back to the Big Screen

In the pantheon of iconic cinematic sneakers, the famed Reebok Alien Stompers unequivocally land right near the top. Worn by Sigourney Weaver’s Ellen Ripley in 1986’s Aliens, the Stomper gained cult status alongside James Cameron’s action/sci-fi masterwork. As sneaker culture evolved, the demand for consumer versions of the Stomper increased. Reebok rose to meet the market, releasing a handful of reinterpretations of the Stomper—until it put the shoes into cryosleep four years ago. Now the Stompers have emerged, reborn, for a new era.

Taking place in between Alien and Aliens, writer/director Fede Álvarez’s Alien: Romulus marks the franchise’s return to the main chronology after the duo of prequel films Prometheus and Alien: Covenant. With it comes the chance to reinterpret the Stompers for a new character and generation—just as Romulus reimagines this franchise for a new era. “One of the most iconic parts of Ripley’s wardrobe on Aliens is those Bug Stompers that Reebok made for the film,” Álvarez tells GQ. “I couldn’t resist, and we reached out to Reebok to ask them to be part of this one and give us a new set of sneakers for a new generation.” All involved have gone a step further, as a limited amount of the new Romulus version of the Stompers will be available for purchase on Tuesday, August 27, at 12:00 midnight EDT on Reebok’s website.

Reebok

The Reebok x Aliens BB 4000 II Mid.

Reebok

That initial ask began with Álvarez tasking his stalwart costume designer, Carlos Rosario (recently nominated for an Emmy for his work on FX’s Shōgun), to engage Reebok in the process of creating a new set of kicks for Romulus lead Caliee Spaeny’s character Rain. Rosario’s design philosophy for Romulus revolved around the idea that he wouldn’t base the costuming on the present-day notion of the future. Instead, he opted “to design [Romulus] as if we were in the ’80s,” Rosario explains. Opting to root the look and feel of Romulus in tandem with Alien and Aliens would further tie the three together. As such, Rosario spent a lot of time with John Januszewski, Reebok’s senior director of footwear design, combing through the brand’s archives to find pieces that spoke to the ’80s vision.

According to Januszewski, the pair initially thought the Reebok Freestyle’s sleek frame might work best before deciding that Spaeny needed a sturdier silhouette. From there, the team settled on—as Januszewski puts it—“amping up” the BB 4000 basketball shoes, iterating until they came across a shoe that plays like a hybrid of the Freestyle and the BB 4000. The Stompers needed to feel rugged and utilitarian, capable of conveying a strength that Rain would tap into throughout the film as she and the Xenomorph hunt each other throughout the Romulus space station. “We wanted Rain to feel very grounded and a bit like a warrior, ready to go on the crazy journey of her storyline,” Rosario states.