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Brand: PLAY COMME des GARÇONS x Converse
Model: Chuck Taylor All Star 70 High and Low
Price: ¥17,050 (High), ¥16,500 (Low)
Buy: Dover Street Market Ginza
Editor’s Notes: In the decades that COMME des GARÇONS has been around, only one creation has ever really broken through to the mainstream. Founder Rei Kawakubo’s ceaseless experimentation with silhouette, proportion, and textile has drawn critical acclaim, an extensive Met exhibit, and international devotees, but nothing hits quite as hard as the CdG PLAY Converse Chuck Taylor.
The thoroughly-memed “Converse With The Hearts” is a commercial smash, its demand far outstripping desire for much of COMME des GARÇONS’ other imprints. Cynical fashion bros have mocked the sneaker to death for being so well-loved — there’s definitely more than a whiff of holier-than-thou gatekeeping at play there — but, really, the appeal of the CdG Play Converse is simple enough.
This iteration of the sneaker in particular, with its all-over heart print, makes that clear. There’s Filip Pągowski ‘s immortal heart logo, a hardy monochrome canvas upper, a midsole free from the foxing stripe, and a contrasting heel panel. What more could you want?
Further, it’s been relatively hard to come by since it first dropped last year, much like the recent blue variant, so its restock on the Japanese Dover Street Market site speaks to a wider release for the graphic-rich makeup.
Now, whether that justifies a buck-fifty for some dudded-up Chucks, that’s up for debate.
But the thing is, it ain’t a crime for a shoe to be inoffensive and no one need pretend that the CdG PLAY Converse signifies the wearer as a font of fashion knowledge. Really, the CdG PLAY Converse are more indicative of conspicuous consumption than anything else, a conceit far more deserving of scrutiny than a little red heart.