Kickers @ 40

"We see our customers more as important collaborators."

For those unfamiliar, ‘Jeans and Sheux’ is a Tumblr page and Twitter account faithful to the jeans-and-smart-shoes-as-a-legitimate-combo cause, as addressed by a certain type of lad™. Purely satirical, Kickers are utterly off radar, a completely separate conversation.

Until you stumble onto the brand’s Wikipedia page and discover that they were initially produced as a denim counterpart: “On the French scene in 1970, Daniel Raufast came across a poster advertising the musical ‘Hair’. Interested by all the barefooted youngsters wearing jeans, he developed a new shoe concept which he believed to be more compatible with the blue-jean generation. The designer Jacques Chevallereau then created the first ‘jean boot’.”

Arriving on the Kings Road in 1975, the (now) classic Kick Hi was picked up by the likes of Roger Daltry and Pete Townsend, Rod Stewart, Elton John and David Bowie; musicians with the sort of credentials that would make sure Kickers never fell under the naff jeans and sheux label, even way back when.

Instead what followed was 40 years of subcultural indulgence, as other musicians followed suit and dabbled with the unisex model: it appeared in The Stone Roses’ ‘Fools Gold’ video in 1989, while Ian Brown undermined The Hacienda’s no trainers policy with its casual aesthetic; contemporary artists such as the Arctic Monkeys and Lion Babe have since claimed the baton, while the brand’s new anniversary campaign celebrates the association with its ‘Never Miss A Beat’ tagline.

“The Kick Hi and the Kickers brand were born as a celebration of youthful creativity,” Carol, part of the brand’s womenswear design team, informs Clash. “I think it's this spirit which has really resonated with the different music scenes it's been at the heart of over the years.”

“I discovered Kickers in the 90's,” she offers of her own relationship with the brand. “I begged my mum to buy me some for school, the proper heeled loafers with the chunky branded saddle trim. Kickers was the IT brand and had the power to make you feel really cool, even though I definitely wasn't!”

Her first encounter proper with the Kick Hi followed when she moved from Ireland to the UK; “It’s a really fascinating style that has meant so much to so many different people,” she continues. “The (Kick Hi) has a really recognisable DNA that stands out. There are so many elements that are instantly recognisable from the denim inspired triple stitching, branded eyelets, fleurette, iconic red and green tabs and cleated outsole,” she says, falling into more technical language, “Its history gives it an unseen attitude that can really change the tone of an outfit; it’s the adaptability of the Kick Hi that makes it so appealing to each new style tribe.”

Naturally the more hardcore fashion conscious tribes have become part of the Kickers trajectory, with collaborations from Lazy Oaf, Christopher Shannon, Topshop and Tourne de Transmission released in the last few years alone, a contemporary mix of double stacked glitter affairs, powerful multi-strapped numbers and 70’s erring tan creations. “The Kick Hi might appear to be more of a male product as it plays a dominant role in the Kickers collection as a standalone style – but in reality in the women's range there is much more scope to be creative with that silhouette,” claims the designer.

That the brand’s hero piece has such an instantly identifiable silhouette – and the extended range similarly features the matching undercarriage and front of house (shoe) shape – has seen it form a bona fide social media presence, not least on Instagram where easy to read details are part of the language (and TBT imagery, such as that above, can gather likes at a fierce rate).

“Social media and the Internet has added a really interesting element,” asserts Carol of the brand’s place in 2015. “I can see who my customer actually is and their feedback on my designs, so I think we see our customers more as important collaborators in the design process which is an influence they might not have had 40 years ago.” Furthermore any band member donning a pair today can spread the love and up the hype at the touch of an iPhone screen.

She continues: “I went back to our old factory in Spain recently and found old sketches that had been hand drawn and faxed to the factory, which seems crazy to me when I work with CAD and can connect to my colleagues instantly over IM and email.”

Four decades in and the original Kickers as jeans collaborator status is the source of the label’s next Kick Hi story. An all denim exterior, the new model – the Kick Hi Denim, natch – is the culmination of the fabric’s enduring credibility in the last century and Kickers as an icon amongst the young. With an October release date, the newbie brings the design full circle, going above and beyond the jeans-alike details that have formed the shoe’s make up since its first Chelsea outing, presumably professing a desire to do have one up on the Canadian Tuxedo.  

But what would Rod say?

Words: Zoe Whitfield
Images: via Sane Communications/Tumblr

www.kickers.co.uk

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