Converse Taps a Trio of Young Fashion Talent to Reimagine Its Cult Classics
“I’ve worn Converse sneakers for so long that I hardly remember my first pair! It should have been a Chuck Taylor All Star Low in black. I felt so powerful and cool when I was a teenager while wearing them.” That’s Christelle Kocher, the incomparably cool French designer of Koché, waxing on her longtime love for the all-American shoe brand, whose classic canvas sneakers and utilitarian sportswear possess global appeal. “When I launched Koché, I used Converse shoes for my first shows,” Kocher goes on. “The venues were very original: an underground station or the streets of Paris, with a guerrilla mood. The shoes matched perfectly with the rebellious and street vibe of my collections.”
It felt like fate, then, when Converse came calling: Kocher, along with Feng Chen Wang and Faith Connexion, is one of three rising talents tapped to put their individual spin on the label. On Friday, they will reveal three separate collaborations connected by their clever rethinking of sportswear codes; all three have put women’s street style front and center, as well.
Take Wang, the Chinese-born, London-based menswear designer who has designed her first womenswear capsule for the occasion. Wang zeroed in on Chuck Taylor’s roots as a basketball shoe, which meant striped track-suit separates and high-tops in a salmon-pink hue. The team at Faith Connexion was tasked with reshaping Converse’s knack for “utility,” and delivered Parisian punk-inspired items like camo-print bike shorts and a big black hoodie with laces running up the sides. As for Kocher, she applied her signature sport-couture motifs—the collaged jersey skirt on a tennis dress, for one—to boxy rugby polos and a very neat croc-stamped flat. “According to me, these pieces will be worn by boys and girls who move in the city, dance, go on a date, and have fun,” she adds. “It is so joyful and energetic! Like a weekend trip with a gang of cool kids from Paris to London.”
Prices range from $40 to $250, and Converse, in partnership with Browns, will host a pop-up in London’s Soho neighborhood this Friday and Saturday to celebrate. Better hop to it—stuff this good never sticks around for long.
Converse Collab
Converse by Koché x Feng Chen Wang x Faith Connexion will be available beginning April 26 at converse.com and select retailers.
