Plateau

Converse and JW Anderson have been putting out some smart sneakers, and this Run Star Hike collaboration is worth paying attention to. The white version comes with a wildly colorful platform sole—like a wedge from some ridiculous 80s shoe, except it actually works. There’s also a glitter version. The whole thing is basically Anderson playing with proportion, taking an icon and breaking it down, stretching some parts and compressing others until it’s something new.

This kind of proportion play is core to how Anderson designs. With the Chuck Taylor he could’ve just slapped his name on a gimmick, but instead he actually thought through what happens when you put a chunky running shoe sole under a classic canvas high-top. The upper stays thin and familiar. The sole gets thick and architectural. Put them together and something clicks.

The shoe showed up in his Spring/Summer 19 runway in London and you could see why—it’s the thing that makes you do a double-take when you pass someone on the street. Not just the white and color contrast, though that’s loud. It’s the proportion shift. That platform isn’t hiding. The sole has a sawtooth pattern that adds height and structure, making this three-part thing where each layer does its own work.

Details matter here. The white version uses linen instead of canvas. There are handwritten marks inside tying the two brands together, small gestures that feel like conversation rather than a corporate handshake. There’s 1917 next to a patch—nod to when the All Stars launched, Anderson crediting the shoe’s actual history instead of pretending he invented something.

It’s the kind of collab that doesn’t need to scream. You either get what he’s doing with the silhouette or you don’t, but either way the shoe is there asking a quiet question about what a sneaker becomes when you’re willing to mess with what everyone assumes is locked in stone.