Converse kicks out the jams

Converse sneakers are beloved by everyone from punk godfathers like Joey Ramone and Iggy Pop as well as king gonzo hellraisers such as Hunter S. Thompson (Optical White Chuck Taylor Oxfords), to other figures who gave zero sh*t to blending in with the herd.

BANGKOK, Thailand — You’ve joined me here. In a warehouse in the capital city where a Thai band (ladies and gentlemen, The Jukks!) is playing punk-rock anthems by the Sex Pistols, the Ramones, Rage and Nirvana. The place is “Pollocked” beyond belief, paint splatters and weird lights everywhere, and we are getting mightily high on good visuals, even better vibes, and big, bad, distorted guitars — promptly destroyed at the end of the band’s set.

Journalists from Asia and Australia — and yours truly drunkenly singing along to Cobain’s Breed and Rotten’s “NRK” (Anarchy in the UK) — are here for the launch of the Converse 2014 collection: Chuck Taylor All Star, Cons, and Jack Purcell. And, dig this, all the aforementioned bands are lovers of Converse, particularly Chucks — in constant production since 1917, virtually unchanged since 1949. Kurt wore them to death. Well, same with those who’ve had the hots for subversion and general shaking up of the system; those sneakers are beloved by everyone from punk godfathers like Joey Ramone and Iggy Pop as well as king gonzo hellraisers such as Hunter S. Thompson (Optical White Chuck Taylor Oxfords), to other figures who gave zero sh*t to blending in with the herd. James Dean wore his white. There’s… Johnny Rotten, the poet when England was still dreaming. Tom Morello who steps on anarchic whammy peds. The Stones made Chucks the official sneakers of their “Steel Wheels” Tour. And here be ye olde Black Sabbath models. The list goes on. (Far too long for some snobs who think Chucks are too ubiquitous in the world of auto-tune pop [the name is Jonas] and Ellen DeGeneres.)

Still there’s a rich rebel history associated with the brand (one pair even made it to the Smithsonian), thus one wonders how on earth those brand masterminds do launches when people’s expectations are so high. Too damn high. 

What Converse decided to do was throw a rock ‘n’ roll party in the evening and on the following day get everyone together in an artistic space — and let them go bonkers on paintball guns, slingshots and more splatters of enamel.

“Two years ago, we asked our consumers to take a stand and choose a side,” explains Eli Bonsol, former marketing manager for Converse Philippines. “The side of the monotony — of doing things the same way, the doom of everyday boredom — we call this path, ‘Shoes.’ The option is to look at life through the lens of creativity and playfulness — the path of the unexpected, choosing to live by the moment — we call this path, ‘Sneakers.’’

She adds that the launch party (for the new sneaker models under the three Converse categories) is proof of “what can happen when we let go of the preordained, leave the rules by the wayside, and just tap into the unedited, pure core of creativity.” Not unlike Kurt when he soloed with his Fender Jazzmaster; or Iggy when not barefoot and going searching, destroying. 

We find ourselves in a place called The Space, a multimedia creative venue overlooking the Chao Phraya River, Bangkok. The Space is a project initiated and supported by photographer James Nachtwey, where visitors can be inspired to think and express themselves. She says the Space allowed the Converse team to play around with the execution — from the design (the props, the Pollock touches) and food (picked to match the swatches of Converse), to the activities themselves (paintball and Polaroid shots).

Preaching to the converted

The evolution of the brand makes for one cool arc.

Converse started out in the early 1900s a company that manufactured winterized rubber soled footwear (rubber shoes and boots) for its customers in Massachusetts. The company went into producing basketball shoes a decade after with basketball player Charles “Chuck” Taylor as its ambassador and salesman. Years later, the company also went into manufacturing protective suits during World War 2 but it was during the ‘50s and ‘60s when it gained popularity especially among teenagers.

In the ‘80s, the Converse brand became the court sneaker with basketball icons Larry Bird and Magic Johnson as ambassadors. While this was happening, Converse also became very popular among artists, musicians, rebels and originals. Over the years, Converse has moved into other silhouettes aside from the classic Chucks with Jack Purcell and Converse Cons. “Despite all this,” adds Bonsol, “one thing has remained constant about Converse: it has stayed on as the sneaker of choice of individuals.”

The brand, she concludes, is youthful and rebellious. Converse, thy name is sneakers.

“It’s not a product, but a mindset. It allows people to feel relaxed and comfortable in their own skin.”

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Converse sneakers are available in leading malls nationwide. For information, visit Error! Hyperlink reference not valid..