Converse One Star '74 Tech

If you’ll allow us a little provincial, New England indulgence, one of the more commonly spotted bumper stickers in the region, on par with a certain unflattering reference to a certain, New York based, pinstriped baseball club, reads “This Car Climbed Mount Washington.”

As the highest mountain peak in the country, east of the Mississippi River, New Hampshire’s Mount Washington is a destination for countless outdoors adventure seekers; it also seems to have been the inspiration for the latest Converse project.

Converse looked towards the sense of adventurism that would lead somebody to hike up or propel themselves down a mountain that is home to actual arctic, tundra conditions, to makeover a classic from their archive, the One Star.

We’ve become so accustomed to the categorization of everything into increasingly small and specific boxes that the sense of adventure is becoming lost, to an extent. The idea that something as simple as a hike requires a trip to four different stores to stock up on enough gear to make Edmund Hillary jealous is regrettably ingrained into our collective consciousness.

Take a look at the cars sporting Mount Washington stickers. The majority of them are regular vehicles. Most people don’t’ go out and buy an entirely separate car that is specially designated for adventure. If you plan on mounting a serious outdoors expedition, by all means, gear up, but there is a wilderness-sized amount of middle ground to move around in between mountaintop and the couch. Why not take the same approach to footwear?

Converse has taken a shoe with an extensive ‘lifestyle’ reputation, the One Star, and re-imagined it with functionality in mind.

Originally released in 1974, as a response to the steps forward basketball design had taken, the One Star was a technological upgrade to the standard All Star. Although the One Star’s time as a court performance shoe was short lived, the shoe’s looks made a lasting impact. It was close enough to the Chuck Taylor to retain its air of timelessness and simplicity, but the plush suede uppers were a sharp new spin on the classic base. The One Star would remain a cult favorite for years before making a full-fledged reappearance.

The Converse One Star ’74 Tech is a shoe that’s ready to trade sharp, city style for a spur of the moment hike, no change of shoes required. A Neoprene slip on bootie and a buckle closure system don’t just look sleek, they offer a more durable, and protective construction than the standard sneaker design. A heavy-duty grosgrain heel loop makes the One Star easy-on, easy-off, while 3m accents and branding increase visibility.

The best adventures aren’t always planned ahead of time.