Converse is giving the Jack Purcell a premium nubuck expression through First String, pairing brown and beached mauve leather with a silhouette rooted in racket-sport history. The new shoes feature in the brand’s latest design story with French tennis player Moïse Kouamé.
In its company post, Converse describes how Alex Restivo and his team researched the player behind the name as well as the shoe’s later wearers across art, music and skateboarding. Their brief was to introduce a new character while retaining the familiar design.
Nubuck gives that approach a material focus. Rather than relying on a new silhouette, the update uses texture and colour to connect the shoe’s sporting origin with its long life in everyday dress. Kouamé’s involvement brings the story back to the court as First String develops a more elevated expression of the Converse archive.
