Grammy-nominated Portland rapper Aminé turns his sixth-grade camp memories into a $220 sneaker.

Aminé announced Thursday, Sept. 10, that his newest New Balance collaboration is the "Outdoor School" 992, a Made in USA model inspired by his time at Oregon's Outdoor School program. The shoe drops Oct. 2 through Club Banana, his creative platform.

The spark came from a wood cookie. That's the personalized wooden name tag every Outdoor School kid decorates with trinkets and charms. Aminé rediscovered his own wood cookie hanging on his childhood bedroom door, according to KGW. He called it the true Oregonian membership card.

Each pair ships with a wood cookie hangtag stamped "Horizon Cabin," the name of Aminé's cabin at the Milk Creek camp. Charms shaped like a frog, compass, whistle, slug and fish dangle from it. The shoebox resembles a fishing tackle box, according to sneaker outlet Just Fresh Kicks.

"For my first pair of Made in USA shoes, it felt important to go back to a corner of this country that means so much to me," Aminé wrote in his announcement.

The release is the fourth in a series of New Balance collaborations rooted in Portland institutions. Aminé's 2023 debut came with a billboard in Northeast Portland reading "A Kid From Portland Has His Own Sneaker."

His 2024 release honored Benson Polytechnic High School and included a $25,000 donation to the school's Radio KBPS program. In 2025, his "Biblioteca 2000" paid tribute to the Multnomah County Library's North Portland branch and launched alongside a book drive.

Aminé, the son of Ethiopian and Eritrean immigrants, attended Benson Polytechnic and later Portland State University before pursuing music full-time. Portland State awarded him an honorary degree in June 2025.

The Outdoor School tribute lands at a tense moment for the program it celebrates. Oregon's Outdoor School has sent sixth graders to outdoor campsites since 1957. But in 2025, state lawmakers cut the program's funding by 20% for the 2025–27 biennium. The Northwest Regional Education Service District said it used reserve funds to limit damage during the current school year but cannot sustain the same programming next year. The district will drop from five sites to four, cut 20 employees and stop hosting its program at Camp Arrah Wanna in Welches. Schools will choose between a shorter three-day session or a pricier four-day option.

Aminé's announcement does not say whether any proceeds from the shoe will benefit Outdoor School programs. His previous collaborations included direct giving to the institutions they honored.

Aminé signed off his announcement with a classic camp-counselor command: "No running!!!"