Jerry Lorenzo and ESSENTIALS Fear of God are back in a new deal in Converse. The upcoming release revolves around a Skidgrip sneaker that has been forgotten a little bit.
In 1910 the Skidgrip was unveiled to the world by the Converse Circular Vamp Oxford (CVO), a staple on the tennis and basketball courts, as well as yacht and ski decks. Fast forward a few decades and the sneaker became associated with SoCal chic, mostly seen in the scenes of BMX, skate and surf.
“I found the Skidgrip in the mall and it became my favorite shoe from that summer,” Lorenzo said remembering his first encounter with the shoe in the late ’80s. “In South Florida and California kids surf and skate; those cultures naturally blended. Even though I wasn’t a skater or a surfer, mixing in pieces from those cultures allowed me to move through different segments of friends.”
The late 1980s high-top edition of the Skidgrip mainly stood out because of its dramatic designs, close to the one featured on the iteration Fear of God Basics. Lorenzo redefined the shape of the silhouette, implementing a 30-degree slope from heel to toe in the midsole.
Main Features: The Fear of God ESSENTIALS x Converse Skidgrip comes with a digitally printed archival template with a high-top style. In addition to Fear of God ESSENTIALS and Chuck 70 retro license plates, the sneaker sports a lined collar and OrthoLite sock lining, which is branded with co-branding on tongue.
“The sole is the biggest takeaway when you look at the sneaker,” the designer said. “It feels very much like our main line, the Fear of God 101, and gives it the same feeling looking down as looking down at the Skidgrip in the late ’80s.”
“Everything we’ve tried to do starts from a place of honesty,” he went on to add. “We picked the Skidgrip because it was a shoe that I loved when I was younger. Our aim in bringing back a silhouette that has been perhaps overlooked is to bring it a fresh relevance.”
Additional inline models of the sneaker will be released in September after the unveiling of the Fear of God ESSENTIALS x Converse Skidgrip.
