With his knowledge of sportswear and streetwear, Jones pulls in contemporary utilitarian elements to inform wonderfully subtle updates to the Converse Chuck 70.
The collaboration between Converse and the artistic director of menswear at Dior, Kim Jones, seems like the natural thing to do. After all, the designer is no stranger to a sneaker collaboration. With his debut Converse collection, Jones reflects on the archetypes of contemporary streetwear, each a classic piece of American sportswear, and delivers a contemporary perspective from head to toe.
“There was an aesthetic that really interested me. It was all the same nerdy things that made people that like the kind of clothes we like see the value,” Jones says of American mid-century staples. “I looked at the Japanese designers readapting American sportswear — recreating that fifties and sixties look. Obviously, Converse was the key shoe within all that stuff. Now, I’m just putting it all together in a different way.”
With his knowledge of sportswear and streetwear, Jones pulls in contemporary utilitarian elements to inform wonderfully subtle updates to the Converse Chuck 70. “The design approach for the shoe was very straight forward — taking a classic shoe and then almost encasing it in something to protect it,” says Jones.
With the approach, Jones adds a transparent TPU cage with speed lace eyelets that adhere to the refined 12-ounce canvas upper, providing reinforced foot stability. The outsole is also reengineered with an enhanced diamond grid to help increase traction on city streets. The shoe takes two tonal colorways, each with Kim Jones branding stamped on tongue and sockliner.
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