It was said that as the label he headed, NUMBER (N)INE, was winding down to its last few months, designer Takahiro Miyashita worked feverishly on the details of 3 footwear designs with CONVERSE, his last collaboration. The result was a rendition based on several different CONVERSE classics – the One Star and Chuck Taylor, whose influences exhibit in the overall silhouette and napped deer skin upper. But it was the Odessa, an obscure CONVERSE running sneaker from the 70s and 80s, that caught Miyashita’s attention when he searched through CONVERSE’s archive. Some 20 years ahead of its time, the CONVERSE Odessa’s asymmetrical lacing system bucked against traditional design and instead brought forth the aspect of runner comfort.Originally scheduled to release as part of NUMBER (N)INE’s “farewell” collection in March, some unexpected circumstances delayed its release till quite literally today. With only 48 pairs allocated for the U.S. market, the NUMBER (N)INE x CONVERSE Odessa is available now exclusively through Aloha Rag New York and its online store.
