COMME DOES CONVERSE, AGAIN: After the successful launch of its shoe collaboration in Japan, Comme des Garçons and Converse are dashing into a wider market — this time with four styles (two high-top, two oxford). The shoes will be sold at the end of August in Comme des Garçons stores in New York, Paris, London, Hong Kong and Seoul, including select retailers that sell Comme des Garçons Play, and in October, distribution will grow with a second launch in the same Comme des Garçons stores as well as top Converse retailers in the U.S., Canada and China (the collaboration will be known as Comme des Garçons Play for Converse). According to a spokesperson, “Converse has a long history of being on the feet of those who have chosen to disrupt the status quo”; the collaboration was born out of Rei Kawakubo’s affection for a particular Chuck Taylor All Star model from the Converse archives that was originally produced in the Fifties for the U.S. Army. Using details from that model, Converse and Kawakubo came up with the four prototypes, which will retail for $100 each. Comme des Garçons isn’t the only high-fashion brand with which Converse is aligning itself: The company plans collaborations with Missoni and (N)umber (N)ine later this fall.

A Comme des Garçons-Converse collaboration.

Photo by Courtesy Photo

source: WWD