When it comes to the USA Sailing team, the USA Junior Olympics Sailing team and the USA Paralympics Sailing team, the only sailing shoe they trust is the Sperry Top-Sider. Designed by Paul Sperry back in 1935, this boat shoe has a very curious and unique origin. Sperry was impressed by the traction maintained by Prince on the slippery, icy surface of a frozen lake in Massachusetts — Prince being his cocker spaniel. Examining the grooves and cracks on the underside of Prince’s paws lead Sperry to develop a herringbone pattern on the rubber soles of a leather- (or canvass-) topped shoe; this process of splitting the under sole was patented by John Sipe in the 1920s. The sailing community immediately loved the traction created and how the white rubber sole prevented the shoe from leaving marks on the boat’s deck. And an iconic shoe design and brand was born!
Fast forward to 78 years, and while that original shoe is still the brand’s pillar design, Sperry has come to mean so much more than the traditional top-sider. Acquired recently by Wolverine World Wide, Sperry is now owned by the same group that owns Keds, Stride Rite and Saucony. Loafers, sneakers, top-siders, boat shoes, winter boots, street footwear and even apparel, Sperry has transformed itself into a multi-product sports lifestyle brand that maintains strong links with the sea, sand and sun (and snow). And here in the Philippines, it’s found in stand-alone stores and multi-brand concept footwear outlets.
Collaborations with independent design teams have updated the look of Sperry via special collections and limited editions, making for an exciting blend of heritage and the brand’s equity on one hand, and an edgier, contemporary design ethos on the other hand!
Just earlier this year, they came out with the Jeffrey line, a collaboration with the design team Band of Outsiders. This made for a fashion-forward collection that made use of unusual colors and material while still sticking to the shoe’s basic functionality, similar to what they did with Milly. With another heritage brand, Fidelity, Sperry recently unveiled a collection of classic boat shoes and winter footwear that’s high on comfort and performance. Ever vigilant of the need to update and keep current with one eye, while the other eye is firmly fixed on tradition, Sperry is a brand that makes sense for every individual with active lifestyle.
Enlightenment avenue
Here are three enlightening yet entertaining novels. Buckley hands us a satirical look at foreign relations and the military-industrial complex while Joyce’s novel is Forrest Gump revisited but with a retired septuagenarian as protagonist. Zafon check in with his latest in his Barcelona series that’s creepy, surreal and sublime!
They Eat Puppies, Don’t They? — Christopher Buckley (available at National Book Store) Yes, Christopher is the son of William, and he’s parlayed that close Washington connection to novels rich with insider knowledge and humor. In previous novels, he’s taken on the tobacco lobby, so it comes as no surprise to find this novel’s main character, Bird MacIntyre, is lobbyist for an aerospace company. Thorn in Bird’s side is how China has become the USA’s banker, with a declining emphasis on developing modern strategic weaponry. Bird teams up with hawk TV personality and authoress Angel Templeton, hoping to ferment some good old paranoia and increase military spending. Concoct a nasty rumor about China and the Dalai Lama! Fun read!
The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry — Rachel Joyce (available at Amazon.com) Here is a novel that seemingly comes out of nowhere, takes very ordinary characters and yet, thrusts them into a pitch-perfect minor masterpiece. Harold and Maureen live on the south coast of England, Harold recently retired. When Harold receives a letter from Queenie, who used to work with him in a brewery and informs him that she is dying from terminal cancer, Harold takes it upon himself to walk to her Scottish border hospice. It may start off like a quixotic, geriatric Forrest Gump premise, but we’re soon treated to something very different. Twists and revelations, life-altering decisions, the immutability of life and death, they all make for a rewarding, absorbing read.
The Prisoner of Heaven — Carlos Ruiz Zafon (available at National Book Store) This is the third of an ongoing series of interconnecting novels, and once again, it’s great to be immersed in the Gothic Barcelona of Zafon. The Sempere bookstore is at the starting point of this novel’s plot line and at its center is a Monte Cristo-type story that has Daniel Sempere’s friend, Fermin, as true protagonist of this story. Identity, retribution, revenge and how reputation and public acclaim can be falsely acquired and built on are the themes of this exhilarating read, with the city of Barcelona as much a character as the individuals who populate the pages. Surreal, dreamlike, shadowy and fraught with danger, this third installment shows Zafon has not lost his touch.