sak for Converse Star Tech

So back in March I posted about a collaboration between Converse and Japanese designer Ryusaku Hiruma (a.k.a. sak).  sak has put out a new pair of handmade leather shoes based on the All Star template, but this time using the star and slash logo (saw these via Hypebeast).  I could personally do without the logo, but what I love about these shoes is the stitched lining around the soles; they give it a real handmade look.  I also love the pattern underneath the shoe.  Converse is killing it with all their collaborations (see the Missoni collaboration I posted about a few months ago).  Hypebeast has a really nice video of Hiruma making the shoes.

Converse All Star Suede

Converse has come out with these really sweet suede sneakers.  The rubber base is the same as normal All Stars, but the rest of the shoe is suede and one color, in this case black.  Black laces, black toe, even the ankle All Star patch is black.  That's what drew me to the pair when I saw it in the store the other day.  The one thing that never sat well with me about All Star sneakers was the rubber toe; to me, it makes the sneakers look a bit like clown shoes.  Not that that has ever deterred me from buying Converse, but the all suede look is perfect in my book.  There's something about black suede on an All Stars design, like a combination of elegance and street style.

New Missoni/Converse collaboration

These are awesome.  The black and white zig-zags looks both funky and elegant, and are a marked improvement (in my mind) to the much more colorful zig-zag patterns of the previous Missoni/Converse collaboration.  The leather tongue helps give it a more classy look.

The pattern and materials are in keeping with Missoni's spring/summer 2011 collection, which bears a wide variety of knitted, zig-zag patterned apparel and accessories, much like the fall/winter 2010 collection did.  This time, Missoni has also created a Chuck Taylor with a much wider vertical zig-zag that looks like it has been etched into the shoe.  Both look great.

Sak For Converse

This might be the coolest pair of shoes I've seen in a while.  They are handmade leather riffs on Converse's Chuck Taylor All-Stars, designed by Japanese (but Florence-based) designer Ryusaku Hiruma.  Hiruma is collaborating with Converse to create high-end versions of their classic styles, with only 64 pairs made for each style.  The Chuck Taylors are made in black and off-white, and are retailing for $600 at Opening Ceremony.  I hope Converse introduces similar styles (at more affordable prices) for those of us who are ready to wear nicer shoes than sneakers but don't want to wear dress shoes casually (or those dopey sneaker/shoe things that I see guys wearing around Soho all the time).

See more at Opening Ceremony's blog.