The “Off-WhiteTM c/o Church’s” capsule collection, designed by Virgil Abloh, was presented on the runway of the Off-WhiteTM “Spaceship Earth: an Imaginary Experience” show at Palais Brongniart, during the Paris Fashion Week. True to Off-WhiteTM’s seditious nature, the genderless collection collapses the progressive ethos central to Virgil Abloh’s ‘Question Everything’ philosophy with the artisan tradition and stylistic history of the British footwear brand. It showcases Abloh’s obsession with reinterpreting classic designs using new references in an entirely new context, without altering their nature. This diametric dialogue distinctly characterizes the journey of Off-WhiteTM c/o Church’s collection, including the first drop in Abloh’s “remastering a classic” journey: the Burwood x Off-WhiteTM. Taking its name from Church’s storied Burwood style, which dates back to 1953, the full brogue Oxford with distinctive dovetail patterning emerges with a new, contemporary identity. Black brushed calfskin replaces the shoe’s conventionally brown suede upper, and “Special Events” (screen-printed in white in Off-WhiteTM’s signature script) adorns the outside of the shoe. A trademark Off-WhiteTM hangtag underscores the style’s shared origins.
n° 76 - 27 April 2022