UPDATE (05/09/2019): After selling out the original Converse x JW Anderson Run Star Hike in white, the style has been re-released, now in a glitter color way. If you ask us, it's the perfect splurge in time for World Pride. The shoe is currently available for $140.
ORIGINAL: You need a white sneaker. Ok, maybe "need" is a bit of an overstatement but white sneakers are a veritable staple in any closet. And while they do get a majority of their wear in the spring and summer, the right pair can truly be worn year-round.
And that's the rub with picking up a wardrobe staple: finding the right one. If literally everyone is going to have the same thing, how exactly do you have a different same thing. Well in its latest collaboration with J. W. Anderson, Converse has reworked their classic Chuck Taylor for a chunkier (practically sold out) version.
"At JW Anderson, over the last 10 years, we've always explored the idea of hybrids; how do you create hybrids for the modern wardrobe," designer and J.W. Anderson creative director Jonathan Anderson told Out in an email interview. "And I have always been fascinated by this idea of how you take two contradictory things and put them together. That's very much a part of the DNA of J.W. Anderson brand."
For his latest hybrid, Anderson turned the classic Chuck Taylor ("I have worn Chuck Taylors for a very, very long time," he said. "They make me think of Camden in the early 90's.") into a bit of a creeper. Dubbed the Converse x JW Anderson Run Star Hike, the style pulls from the thicker Converse Run Star sole with the Taylor as its upper. Literally who does not want a few extra inches?
"Honestly, the best part about these is that you're not only extra-tall but that they are extra comfortable, Out's Coco Romack, who took the unisex kicks for a test run with editors Raquel Willis and Fran Tirado, said. And it's true, sometimes in fashion, aesthetic comes with an expense only to be paid out in pain. "Plus, it's cool to see Converse doing a collab with exciting designers like J.W.!"
The Run Star Hike is only the latest in a series of collaboration between Converse and the UK-based designer, and will later be available in a multi-colored glitter variation. But if the demand is anything like this pair, which sold out on the Converse website and on most other sites (Dover Street Market still has a handful) getting them will be a true race against the clock.
photos featuring Coco Romack, Raquel Willis, and Fran Trado shot by Nicolas Bloise
