Your Favorite Canvas Sneakers Get an Awesome Weirdo Remix
When it comes to classic laidback sneakers, the hallmark styles from Vans and Converse are hard to beat. We’ve been waxing poetic about the shoes—both the Vans Old Skool and the Converse Chuck Taylor—for years now. Both are iconic silhouettes and look great on just about anyone who wears them. (Not to mention both sneakers will run well under $100.) However, if you’re looking for something that less conventional and more contemporary, please meet Japanese designer Mihara Yasuhiro and his new-wave riff on the famous sneaker styles.
Yasuhiro, known for his outsider art–inspired footwear and clothes, takes design cues from classic sneaker styles and remixes and refines until a messy-yet-composed final state emerges. His take on the Vans Old Skool silhouette features a gingham canvas upper, soft suede overlays and padded collars. The reworked rubber sole boasts imperfect-looking and crooked details, and the checkerboard print on the shoe is much more cartoon-ish then its original source. (He’s also applied the same to the skater-loved Vans Sk8-Hi silhouette, too.) Yasuhiro’s homage to the Converse Chuck Taylor plays into the sneaker’s all-American roots: stripes and stars are adorning the upper. Similar to the Vans-inspired styles, this sneaker also comes complete with a wonky-on-purpose shaped outsole. These are the quirky details that have come to define Yasuhiro’s signature aesthetic.
The original Old Skool and Chuck Taylor are near-perfect sneakers; they look just as fresh now as they did decades ago. Yasuhiro isn’t trying to improve upon these shoes but instead offering a contrasting reimagination of the shoe. And luckily for sneakerheads, his is a new point of view that is definitely worth checking out.
Article written by Tyler Watamanuk #GQ
