For AW11 ellesse heritage has taken 5 legendary styles of shoes from the ellesse heritage archive and offered one of each of the 5 styles to 5 of the most influential retailers on the street wear to then customize and personalize conducive to their core identity.
The 5 invited collaborators were each requested to rework an iconic heritage footwear piece that suited and exemplified their inimitable style and retail persona, the Fab 5 project is targeted towards today’s premium sports fashion / top tier street-wear consumer. The prominent protagonists in the ‘Fab 5’ project are as follows after the jump
colette x Assist 1 – colette got their game head on for the Fab 5 and chose the Assist 1 basketball boot as their blank canvas. Their signature ‘colette bleu’ was used to colour block the shoe, and is contrasted with polka dot laces. It’s a fierce shoe! A custom ‘colette bleu’ basketball is sold with the shoe, celebrating the Assist’s orginal roots as a basketball shoe, then adopt- ed by the progressive 80’s skateboard scene.
24 Kilates x The 117 – 24 Kilates of Barcelona have chosen to re-appropriate the ellesse 117. The Influence for their palette design is deep rooted in marinas and yachting due to an amigo of 24 Ki- lates getting prepped to embark on a yacht race starting in Barcelona. Staying true to the original 117 was deemed important by the 24 Kilates team, thus the leather utilised is ‘hulex’ – waterproof so perfect for yachting. The shoe is sold with a 24 Kilates Yacht squadron 5 panel cap, providing a squadron package.
Grand Boutique x The Levanto – Grand Boutique is based in Zurich, which is ironic as Zurich is also a Grand city. Based on its mountain-esque locale it seems both style and function led the Grand Boutique team to decide on a hiking/walking theme. The shoe is not a technical hiking shoe per se but is certainly a conscious homage and thus has hiking influences in the meticulous detail- ing – d-rings and ski hook fastening… with a knapsack on your back! The shoe comes equipped with a fresh set of hiking socks to wear with them.
Harvey Nichols x Marathon 84’ – Harvey Nichols ran into the Marathon 1984 head on, this shoe was created especially for the New York Marathon. The Knightsbridge design team have stuck to the ‘sport casual’ look and honoured the heritage colours first used on the marathon shoe – premium full grain leather and high quality nylon in the sophisticated shades of grey and white. The ellesse corporate orange, used as a pop colour, adds a sporty feel and makes this iconic retro style more contemporary. The shoe has been linked to a ‘HARVEY NICHOLS IS WATCHING YOU’ concept, inspired by George Orwell’s seminal novel 1984, which is another reference to the original 1984 Marathon shoe. Working with Lomography, the CyberSampler camera is given away with the shoe fitting the bill perfectly.
Sneakersnstuff x Poli – SneakersnStuff got up early and bagged the ellesse Poli, choosing to stick strictly to the original materials, the only flux was in the colorway – they opted to paint their shoe SNS red. The color reflects the red that Swedes use to paint their wooden summer houses. And with this comes a significant paint brush. Flying the flag for summertime.
