Earlier this year, Converse released its ‘Spark Progress’ project, celebrated young female talents. Among the five creatives, was longtime collaborator of the brand and Royal College of Art graduate Feng Chen Wang. For her latest partnership with the American footwear brand, Wang has returned, joined by contemporary French labels Koché and Faith Connexion.
With the aim of reimagining Converse’s DNA, through the filter of sport and utility, each designer created their own capsules – available online now – featuring clothing, shoes, and accessories. Faith Connexion’s collection embraces a sense of elegant utilitarian fashion, featuring and leopard/camo print mash-up on sportswear clothing.
While still being inspired by Converse’s outdoor heritage, t-shirts with street art show the collection to remain true to the Parisian label’s celebration of fashion, art and street culture, within youth communities. “Faith Connexion is a community, it's a tribe, it's something that happened when we started this and it just pulled in energies of all different types,” says creative lead Maria Buccellati. “From street artists to designers to music people, we join all of this together and find something special about it that we can share with the world and mix into a fashion brand that is unique and is speaking a language.”
Elsewhere, French designer Christelle Kocher – founder of label Koché – used her sports-couture approach to design the collection. Her use of constructed patchwork mixed with Koché’s interpretation of femininity, shown by the hints of lace detailing, adds a playful energy to classic Converse pieces. “I like it to be sophisticated but with comfort, with a strong attitude,” Kocher explains of the collection. “I want girls to feel empowered.”
For her first womenswear collection, Feng Chen Wang designed pieces around a red and pink colour palette. Heavily influenced by basketball culture, her collection includes 70s windbreaker style jackets, along with her version of the iconic Chuck Taylors. The words ‘Girl Power’ appear throughout her collection, from sneakers to jerseys.
Head over to Dazed’s Instagram account to learn from Koché how to fuse streetwear with high fashion and how to build a creative community from Faith Connexion as part of our Life Lessons series.
Converse Reimagined is available now.
