"" wondermomo: BOWERY JOHN VARVATOS x CONVERSE - Limited Edition

Friday, November 20, 2009

BOWERY JOHN VARVATOS x CONVERSE - Limited Edition

We are totally psyched for these SUPER LIMITED Converse ★ John Varvatos hi-tops!
From the Bowery John Varvatos x Chuck Taylor All Star capsule collection, John Varvatos’ trademark streak of rock & roll aesthetics goes uninterrupted in these flashy yet practical new offerings.
(Top) Hi-Top with nappa leather upper & embedded metal ball-chains
(Bottom) Hi-Top with garment-dyed black python embossed Italian leather upper

Do. not. miss. them.

John Varvatos
Detroit-born John Varvatos has always embraced his inner rock geek. In addition to owning 15,000 albums (ranging from Jimi Hendrix to R.E.M.) & attending 75 concerts annually, the acclaimed designer has relentlessly integrated rock & roll into the very heart & core of his work, connecting with millions of ordinary guys who just want to look good, without being victims of fashion or trends.
In 2004, Varvatos did something “sneaky”. He took the favourite shoe of the American (universal?) male -- the Converse sneaker -- & reinterpreted it with his typical attention to detail. These unprecedented All Star collaboration sneakers were a monster hit with both the hip & the mass.
John Varvatos has twice won the industry’s ultimate accolade, Menswear Designer of the Year (2001 & 2005)
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John Varvatos Bowery NYC
315 Bowery is the address which formerly belonged to punk-rock cradle CBGB OMFUG (Country, Blue Grass and Blues and Other Music For Uplifting Gormandizers). The was founded in 1973 & quickly forsook its namesake musical styles to become a forum for rock & punk legends like Blondie, Talking Heads, The Ramones, & Green Day. The club closed in October 2006 with a final show performed by Patti Smith.
(John Varvatos’ first trip to the Big Apple was in fact to see the Ramones perform at CBGB, in 1977.)
When John Varvatos took over the lease & opened John Varvatos Bowery NYC in Spring 2008, detractors protested & picketed. But Varvatos has worked hard to keep a piece of history. In addition to all of the designer's lines, the shop sells vinyl records, along with vintage-seventies hi-fi equipment, & it even retains many of the space's iconic features. The graffiti- & flyer-covered walls remain as they were, & there's even a new small stage for free concerts by up-&-coming musicians. Some doubters have since admitted that, of all the possible new tenants (apparently the space easily could have been a deli or Bank of America), Varvatos seemed to have built the one shrine that would convert the cynics.


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