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The Vetements collaboration with Umbro was a genius collision, while the hookup with Tommy Hilfiger was a sly and witty layering of pop cultural associations. Yet the label’s meeting of its deconstructed sociological streetwear leanings with British shoe stalwart Church’s traditional aesthetic and values might actually be the most interesting of them all because, at first glance, it seems the least likely. And yet, and yet, and yet. . . . Surely, I’m not alone in my stalking via MatchesFashion.com and MrPorter.com for the latest examples of their coupling, a derby and a combat boot made in Northampton, England, and out of a black leather debossed many times over with the Vetements logo? (I won’t admit here how that obsession has played out other than to say, financially at least, pretty badly.) To Guram Gvasalia of Vetements joining forces with Church’s wasn’t so unexpected. “There’s always an inner logic how and why we choose our partners,” he says. “We analyze the product category we want to develop and think who is best. When we decided to do classic shoes for men, the choice [of partner] was obvious.”
This is the second time around the two have teamed up—remember the shoes and boots emblazoned with Vetements on the back of the heels from last year? Those caused me to sit there slavering through that season’s collaboration-heavy Vetements show at the Galeries Lafayette department store in Paris, desperately scanning the feet of the models in the hopes of seeing their version of Church’s, only to have to make do instead with the (utterly brilliant) thigh-high satin Manolo Blahnik boots instead. (Well, visually, if not experientially, at least.) Anthony Romano, CEO of Church’s, says that the shoemaker leaped at the chance to work with the label, and continues to do so, because, “It’s great to see two different worlds joining forces to create something unique and with a natural harmony. We wanted a new challenge, a new experiment; we are looking to surprise.”
Speaking of surprises, Gvasalia indicates that the formality of Church’s mirrors the emphasis on non-sporty clothes that Vetements is increasingly exploring. “With tailoring having its comeback, suits are the new hoodies,” he says, “and you need a pair of updated classic shoes to match them.” That’s a typical zeitgeist-y taking of the cultural temperature of the moment from Gvasalia. Yet unsurprisingly, given the perceptive and intuitive way the label operates, he also has a grasp on how the industry needs to move on—and that labels like his have to give it a push so it doesn’t just rest on its laurels. “Every week there is a new sneaker release that everyone is going crazy for and forgets about when the next It sneaker drops,” he says. “This extreme oversaturation has created a necessary desire for something opposite. As tailoring has become the new streetwear, boots are the future sneakers!” Though, to be clear, even if this new Vetements x Church’s collaboration could be a sign we’re finally over It sneakers, those new logo-ed Church’s shoes are also going to look as terrific with f--ked up old jeans as they are crisp pinstripes.