CONVERSE À LA MOD
When it comes to shoe projects, Converse All Stars is a brand we love to mod.
Originally created in 1917 as basketball shoes, “Chucks” (nicknamed after hoops
star Chuck Taylor) quickly became one of the most popular shoe brands of
all time. It’s their playful shape, easy-to-cut canvas, accessibility, and relative low
cost that make these sneakers the most fun to hack. So try the following fabric
swap and knitted Chuck projects and consider yourself a Converse crafter.
THE ALL STAR
FABRIC SWAP
Restyle your classic
Chucks with simple
sewing and shoe glue.
BY TOM W YATT
Photography by Sam Murphy
Ibought my first pair of All Stars about a year ago
and wore them almost constantly, until they finally fell apart. In the end it was only my girlfriend’s
nagging (and eventually her putting them in the bin)
that tore them away from me.
All my Converse sneakers eventually fall apart
in the same way — the fabric in the back rips away
from the sole, but the rubber itself is fine. Shortly
after realizing this, I rescued a pair from the rubbish
and started pulling them apart, trying to work out
how I could create a pattern for them with new
fabric. Here’s what I came up with.
Tom Wyatt is a 26-year-old I T engineer who enjoys pulling
things apart and occasionally putting them back together
again. He recently branched out to fabric.
