Kim Jones for Umbro, Alexander McQueen’s PUMA collection and Yohji ‘OG’ Yamamoto’s Y-3 label also add weight to a market pregnant with a multitude of fashionable new influences. On top of that, adidas has also just launched a new range called SLVR, with nary a Trefoil or 3-stripe in sight. Sleek, devoid of branding and archly styled with no sign of any tongue-in-cheek sports vibe, this ‘blank’ direction is clearly filling a void with consumers determined to resist external labels. Now that is a new definition of cool!
Whilst Y-3, Mihara and McQueen have all been too fancy-pants for most heads to date, you only need look at the success of Supra’s NS range to see where this has nestled and found a home, even in the insular and unlikely world of skate. With high top buckles and velcro galore and an acre of perforated patent, Supra’s once fashion-forward vision has now been vindicated as being right outta the Nostradamus novella on early adopters. Again, these are not trends for everyone’s taste but there is no denying that their creative risk has come to fruition.
Overall, you’d have to say that this aesthetic has more in common with Battlestar Galactica than Stan Smith. Admittedly it’s only a small jump from the gold edition Supra Skytops to adidas Y-3 and then onto Vuitton, as these brands all share a common love for ‘busy’ design, but there is also elbow room at this altar for the lo-fi sneaker, or ‘geography teacher’ models as they are sometimes called by us in the SF office. Add the indie street-cred of Clae, Gourmet, Android Homme, Cipher, Common Projects, Gram and others to that vibe, and you have the makings of a commercial slipstream bubbling away pretty damn close to the surface.
