First New Converse All Star Design In 100 Years Unveiled
July 23, 2015 (Gephardt Daily) – Converse has officially revealed the Chuck II, the first new All Star design for 100 years.
Released for the first time in 1917, the Converse Chuck Taylor All Star is an American design classic. The Chuck’s canvas, star-blazoned silhouette isn’t just iconic, it’s sacrosanct, and for good reason: according to the company, All Star sales made up the “majority” of Converse’s $1.7 billion in revenue in 2014. Yet today, for the first time in almost 100 years, Converse is finally unveiling an honest-to-god sequel to the Chuck Taylor All Star. Meet the Chuck II, a more premium pair of kicks that were designed from the ground-up with a simple mandate: “Let’s obsess the Chuck.”
Although they sport a Rambo II style sequel number at the end, part of what makes the Chuck II so singular is they don’t necessarily look like a new design. With a cursory glance, they could be mistaken for a regular set of kicks. Only when you examine the Chuck II more closely do the differences make themselves apparent. They’re a little more premium, a little more luxe. The stitching is nicer. So is the canvas. Details like the All Star patch and the eyelets have a little more depth and dimension. The Chuck II is also slightly more comfortable to wear. But this isn’t the futuristic Air McFly update you might expect from a brand that has abstained from updating its singular sneaker for almost a century. And that’s very much by design.
The biggest change is probably the footbed, which contains Lunarlon technology provided by Converse’s parent company, Nike. A soft and resilient foam core that helps more evenly spread out impact, Lunarlon makes the Chuck II more comfortable than previous Chucks. An inner ultra suede lining also makes the Chuck II feel a little more luxurious than a standard All Star, which is supplemented by foam cushioning in the tongue and collar.
But most of the changes are in the detailing. Take the iconic All Star patch. An iron-on in the core Chuck Taylor, the Chuck II sport a woven version, nicer looking and less likely to wear down over time. The eyelets in the Chuck II are molded, creating a feeling of greater depth; same thing with the Converse heel patch, which now has three-dimensional letters, instead of just a painted-on logo. The canvas used in the Chuck II has a better hand feel than the original Chucks too.
With a retail price just $20 more than a set of classic All Stars, Converse is hoping many Chuck fans will buy both.
Although redesigning a product is generally a sign that sales are flagging, that’s not true in the case of the Chuck II. Converse’s revenues have increased 10-fold since 2003, when Nike bought the company, saving it from bankruptcy. Instead, says Cottrill, the Chuck II is the result of a thought experiment within Converse, a company that has throughout most of its history chased basketball players and athletes as customers while ignoring the actual people buying their shoes.
Available in black, white, red, and blue, the Converse Chuck Taylor All Star II’s go on sale next Tuesday, July 28, at a suggested retail price of $70 for the Oxfords, or $75 for the high-tops.
