Tyler, the Creator's Goal Is Simple: Make Fire Products
“I wish I had deeper answers for y'all, I just thought the shoes looked fire,” chuckles Tyler, the Creator with his signature raspy Californian delivery. “I hate the idea of nostalgia and things having to have a deeper meaning.”
He’s deliberating on the creative process when designing his latest Converse collaboration, speaking through a video call while casually parked up roadside.
(His car is a Rolls-Royce, in case you’re interested.)
The shoes in question come from the 1908 collection, a product line bringing Converse deep cuts back for the modern day. Debuting this new line are the Naut-1, a classic deck shoe in rough suede, and the slim-shaped ‘70s Coach Jogger running shoe.
Both are left in their original retro form. “With the updates I did to the shoes, I didn't want to do anything groundbreaking or reinvent the wheel,” says Tyler.
“I wanted to keep it how it was, because the shoes were [already] perfect. I did some new colorways and then bam, we got it.” Trust Tyler, the Creator to not over-intellectualize his work.
Those colorways, ranging from chocolatey brown to a light pastel blue, aren’t Tyler’s only intervention, however. Printed onto the Coach Jogger’s medial side and woven into a tag on top of the Naut-1, is “le FLEUR*” branding. And that’s an important detail.
In 2011, Tyler The Creator founded his streetwear label Golf Wang as the loud-mouthed frontman of rap collective Odd Future. Then, in 2017, came GOLF le FLEUR*.
“When I made GOLF le FLEUR*, I didn't want to have to change Golf Wang and alienate the folks that like that. So I just made le FLEUR* the thing that matches where I'm at in my life and how I dress,” says Tyler. “I love Bode, I love Drake's, I love Double RL. And because [that stuff comes with] specific styles and price points, I thought, let me just keep that for le FLEUR*. I didn't want Golf Wang to suffer because of where I'm at.”
He still runs both brands, but le FLEUR* is a reflection of his current prep-infused style dominated by polo shirts, ties, and knitwear. By extension, these shoes also fit into that world.
“I felt the shape of the shoes matched the silhouettes I make with le FLEUR*,” says Tyler, swiftly moving his leg up to present his forest green pair of Coach Joggers. He’s wearing them with beige slacks, a button-down shirt, and a light tan le FLEUR* baseball cap.
“I wanted to put my style with this shoe. A lot of folks would just throw these on with some jeans, which is fine, but I really love taking a sporty shoe and putting it with something that's in this realm,” he says, referencing his neo-preppy outfit.
Leather boat shoes, hiking boots, loafers... these might all be regular fixtures in Tyler's tradition-laden style. But he's not averse to rocking a pair of sneakers with his signature formal slacks, they just have to be the right ones.
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