The (faux) fur is flying at Converse.
The Nike-owned footwear brand has teamed up with Shrimps designer Hannah Weiland to ply its shoes with motifs from the cult faux-fur label’s archives.
Weiland picked two signature Converse silhouettes to make over: the One Star Low Top, which features pink faux suede and Barbados cherry–colored roses, and the Chuck 70 High Top, which is a riot of scribbled faces across a white canvas surface.
“The doodle face print is the first print I ever designed for Shrimps, it is a unique take on a classic print, we use it across the brand, on packaging to silk pieces,” Weiland told the Evening Standard. “This is the first time we have used it on trainers and I must say it’s one of my favorites!”
Each shoe boasts the Converse All-Star and One Star logos, the Shrimps insignia, a chunky outsole and a matching strip of faux fur on the heelstay: bubblegum pink on the Low Top and black on the High.
“Faux fur is how Shrimps started, so, for me, it’s important to always have an element of it in my designs,” Weiland told Nylon earlier this month.
A colorized version of the face print covers a pullover hoodie and a pair of open-hem drawstring pants. Roses festoon one long-sleeve T-shirt, while the Shrimps name and logo flanks another. These pieces are Shrimp’s first foray into athleisure, Weiland noted.
“I loved the idea of a product that is so different to what we offer at Shrimps,” she said. “Seeing our prints on street wear is something we have never done before.”
Weiland doesn’t just work with anyone, but Nike’s pioneering efforts in sustainability made the partnership an easy one. Conscious millennials, like the designer herself, who is 28, are Shrimp’s core demographic, which makes ethics her idea of table stakes.
“It’s one of the most important things I look for in collaborations,” she told Nylon. “We are designing for millennials who want to change the world and the future of the planet, so we have to help with this and reflect everyone’s amazing efforts towards an ethical and sustainable future.”
Prices for the One Star Low Top ring in at $120 and the Chuck 70 High Top at $110.