To the great pleasure of (former) emos, old and new, Converse recently re-released their infamous sky-high tops, aka the over-knee Chucks. To view them is to time travel and relish in memories. And yet, it also reminds of just how much we appreciate the more classic Chuck iteration.
But something’s in the water it seems – been there brewin’. Though they never actually went anywhere, Chucks seem to be making a quiet comeback, wiggling their way back from the back row to the forefront of our shoe rotation.
Specifically the slightly retro Chuck 70 high top, it appears, is enjoying the good graces of nostalgic Millennials and revivalist trend-savvy Gen Zs alike – even more so when in a state of lovingly lived-in distress:
It really shouldn’t come as that big of a surprise, since the shoe’s never really gone anywhere to begin with – regularly worn on stylish celebrities; countless crossovers into high fashion, by way of successful designer reiterations, most recently including doublet, Martine Ali, and Rick Owens, to name only very few.
The Chuck Taylor design is now nearly a hundred years old, with a lengthy legacy to its name that spans generations of fans, never off the radar, never over-hyped. Sometimes more, sometimes less present, the Chuck’s orbit feels closer again to the mainstream’s sartorial consciousness – and as frequent collaborators ourselves, we could hardly be mad about that.
For Chuck’s Sake: Converse’s Lace-Ups Will Never Not Be Cool!
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