Martine Ali x Converse
We caught up with Martine during her party-turned-rave in the heart of Bushwick last Thursday to delve into inches, "stash" spots, and what lies ahead for her and Converse.
So how are you feeling with the collab out now?
Honestly… a little sweaty? [Laughs] No, I feel amazing. It’s super surreal.
I love. What’s your favorite detail?
There are so many elements to the shoe that keep it casual, but you can also dress it up if you want to. It’s a convertible wedge platform — day to night, high, low — that versatility and the ability to take it from one thing to another is something I wanted to bring over from the jewelry.
Is the heel also convertible?
You can’t take the heel off, but if you could, it would be like a little stash spot. [Laughs]
So true. How many inches?
Like four.
A little pick-me-up...
Tell me about the gaiter.
So a lot of welders have these snap-on elements to their uniforms, like gaiters that they put on over their shoes, which is what I wanted to bring into this design. For everything I'm doing with Converse I’m trying to bring in that reference so that even if there isn’t metal, there is still this sensibility that goes back to metalwork.
What’s your favorite way to style them?
I really like them with the gaiters; if it were warmer out, I would be wearing them like that, but now, since it’s colder, I’m just wearing them with baggy pants so that’s also a moment.
Did you learn anything about yourself during the process of transitioning from jewelry to a new medium?
Yes, I learned that the happy accident is a real thing especially when working with a new medium in a completely new space and context. You have to try things to figure out what works and you can't plan that outcome. There were a couple of design elements that we had to just see how they were interpreted.
We love a happy accident, sometimes it’s how the best things are made.
That's exactly how I feel.
How long did you work on the style?
For about a year.
Was it hard to keep under wraps?
The amount of times I hit Converse and was like, How about we tease the design process? And they were like, No, it doesn’t work like that for us. It was so hard to not wear the shoes out.
I could imagine. How many prototypes did you go through before feeling good about it?
Not many, to be honest, I think two. We wanted the material of the gaiter to be a functional, technical piece so figuring out its durability did lead to a lot of sampling.
When are the girls getting another shoe?
Yes, we're working on more shoes for next season, which I'm super excited about as there will be more metalwork and hardware. I love working with shoes, so hopefully there will be more and more.
The Martine Ali Chuck 70 De Luxe Wedge is now available for purchase at converse.com