Maison Martin Margiela Meets Converse Classics

The sneaker collaboration as we know it was born when brands started teaming up with respected shops and artists to tell deeper and more personal stories through their shoes. In addition to giving the shoes that have been spawned from these joint-efforts added dimensions of creativity and originality, bringing in outside collaborators also made them feel more personal – something that has been proven to go a long way with consumers. These collab projects have also been proven to be a great way for companies to cross over and tap into the already established fanbases of each partner, making them an invaluable marketing tool to help create product buzz and attract new customers.

A certain level of prestige comes along with doing a sneaker collaboration. There’s an intrinsic sense of importance surrounding the actual products and a well-deserved feeling of pride for those involved in creating them. In the early days of these collab endeavors, however, it was a more one-sided exchange, where in most cases, it was the large brands reaching down to smaller entities with the dream opportunity to create a shoe together. While these projects did offer the aforementioned benefits for the sneaker brands as well, they were usually far more appreciated and beneficial to the visiting outsiders that got the great exposure and status boost of having their very own collab shoe.

Thanks to all the mutual success that has sprouted from these ventures, the general dynamics of the playing field have shifted, and nowadays, you never know what two heavyweight brands might join forces. These collaboration projects have proven to be an amazing promotional asset for all involved, and the time has come that all walks of the retail world seem eager for a juicy team-up. As a result, we’re now seeing sneaker brands able to create dual-branded products with high-end fashion labels and designers – a notion that would have been pretty unthinkable to both us and them just a few years ago.

The sneaker industry is booming and the fashion world has taken notice, even up at the top of the couture food chain. Several major fashion labels and designers have put their own spins on a variety of sneaker collaborations, and no brand has been at the center of more of them than Converse. They have led the sneaker charge into the high-fashion world with a variety of collections and one-offs with top designers and labels like John Varvatos, Missoni, Marimekko and Comme des Garçons to name just a few. This month, Converse will release their latest brush with fashion’s finest as they embark on a multi-shoe collection with acclaimed French fashion house, Maison Martin Margiela, for perhaps their most prestigious collaboration to date.

MAISON MARTIN MARGIELA x CONVERSE

Best known for their unorthodox approach and progressive thinking, Maison Martin Margiela has been making waves in fashion and design circles since the late ’80s, but has also recently come to prominence in the hip-hop community thanks to memorable name drops from some of the most influential trendsetters in the rap game. Thanks to some loving mentions from the likes of Kanye West, Jay-Z, and A$AP Rocky, Margiela is now firmly planted on the radar of a whole new market. As we all know, hip-hop and sneakers go hand in hand, so choosing Converse as their latest collaboration partner seems to be a pretty logical maneuver, although still a somewhat unexpected development.

Maison Martin Margiela already shocked the world once when they partnered up with H&M for a co-branded clothing capsule last year, so their foray into the mainstream sneaker market shouldn’t be a complete surprise. What’s more shocking is that rather than going for a crazy avant-garde approach to Converse’s classic models, they went with what appears to be more of a minimal concept at first glance. The Chuck Taylor and Jack Purcell are both done in their trademark all-white motif with each shoe hand-painted to be completely coated in a layer of white.

What initially appears to be a clean white shoe will eventually start to crackle and chip, allowing the painted outer layer to give way to hints of the shoe’s base color peeking through. With every wear, they will reveal more and more of the color through the white shell, making each pair completely unique and allowing you to witness the gradual evolution of your shoe’s appearance.

Another brilliant case of intuitive “less is more” thinking, Margiela just had them painted white and now the laws of physics will design the shoes for them as bending, flexing, and scuffing will naturally create each unpredictable detail that comes to be. In the coming weeks, Converse will release four colorways each of the Chuck Taylor and Jack Purcell – red, navy, black, and the Margiela-exclusive yellow. The shoes will carry a $200 pricepoint when they release in limited quantities through Margiela shops and Converse’s First String retail accounts. The price may be a little steeper than your average Chuck or Purcell, but to put it in perspective, that’s still a bargain in comparison to most items carrying the triple-M label.

MAISON MARTIN MARGIELA x CONVERSE CHUCK TAYLOR ALL STAR

9/12 @ Margiela Shops
9/20 @ Global Converse First String Retailers
$200

MAISON MARTIN MARGIELA x CONVERSE JACK PURCELL

9/12 @ Margiela Shops
9/20 @ Global Converse First String Retailers
$200

THE STARTING POINT

Now that you’ve seen the shoes after some wear, we thought we’d give you a look at a crispy clean pair right out of the box. There’s something so beautiful and elegant about an all white sneaker, but that’s not in the cards for this pair for much longer.

Check out the Maison Martin Margiela Chuck Taylor in its pure untouched form, because once they go into the rotation, they’ll never be the same again! Wonder what color lies beneath…
A huge thanks to nitro:licious for the additional photos!