Converse teams up with MMM to get creative
Maison Martin Margiela (MMM) is a fashion house well known for their deconstruction designs, so when they teamed up with Converse to do their own take on the classic sneaker, it was no surprise that they were completely innovative. The MMM x Converse collection will consist of the famous Chuck Taylor All Star shoe and the Jack Purceell shoes, covered in a layer of white paint, one of MMM’s signatures.
As the shoes are worn, the white paint will chip off to slowly unveil the original color of shoe, either red, black, navy, blue, or a new MMM-exclusive vintage yellow.
“The Maison has always been obsessed with white; it is used as a layer to give an incognito feeling,” Maison Martin Margiela said in a statement. “A sort of poetry, with the passage of time, the shoe asserts itself.”
A pair will run $200, and are available at MMM stories and select Converse stores globally.
Lessons for entrepreneurs
Instead of teaming up with Kobe and adding air pumps to their design, Converse innnovated their brand by teaming up with an unlikely partner – a high fashion designer whose creations are typically seen on the catwalk.
Non-fashion brands don’t always pair up, but there can be some tremendous hidden benefits of brand collaboration, most of which pertain to expanding awareness of your brand and generating buzz. Consider who your MMM is that would compliment your Converse, or vice versa.
Another lesson to be learned here is that there is value in thinking outside of the box. Cliché, we know, but it’s true. Converse could have teamed up a hoops hall of famer to make you jump higher, but instead, with MMM they reconsidered the very value of their product and made it more interesting over time instead of devalued the minute the first scratch or smudge pops up.
What can you do with your product or service that adds value over time, making it cool to have a vintage version of what you provide?
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