Zoomer Magazine – September 2019

everythingzoomer.com SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2019 (^) – 29
palace protocol – the evening wed-
ding reception of Prince Harry and
Meghan Markle. At 2019’s black-tie
Canadian Arts and Fashion Awards,
fashion journalist Bernadette
Morra wore Santoni sneakers as she
posed with the Duchess of Sussex
BFF Jessica Mulroney.
As far back as the ’50s, movie stars
like James Dean were making Chuck
Taylors fashionable, but sneakers
didn’t become the Goliath footwear
category until the 1980s, thanks to
one man, Michael Jordan. When
Nike signed the Chicago Bulls basket-
ball player and launched the 1985 Air
Jordan I, an icon was born, and the
sport shoe was turbo-charged into
pop-culture prominence – remem-
ber Run DMC rapping about their
Adidas? The shoe finally made it all
the way to fashion’s summit – when
the late Karl Lagerfeld sent sneakers
down the runway at a 2013 Chanel
Paris haute couture show.
And if you truly need proof of
literal religious fervour behind
this style – the Instagram account
@PreachersNSneakers features
American church leaders decked
out in some of the hottest – and most
expensive – sneaker brands.
Of course, with ubiquity comes
the pursuit for the unique. Sneaker
designs today are a far cry from the
original mass-produced sneaker
back in 1917, the forerunner of the
Converse All Star. They are now
technological marvels bearing
exotic skins, futuristic neoprene,
featherweight Flyknit and slathered
with all manner of embellishment
from padlocks to chunky chains to
the plumes of feathers sprouting
from this season’s Valentinos. The
fashion pendulum may be swinging
back to clean, simple designs, but
the big trend now is supercharged
by Louis Vuitton and Balenciaga and
takes its cue from an unlikely source –
the “grandpa shoe,” which is inspired
from the orthopedic-looking chunky
ones favoured by the mature set.
Ironic, indeed, for as the Paris-based
shoe designer, Pierre Hardy, 63, who
recently paid a visit to Holt Renfrew
says of sneakers, “Nothing makes
you feel so youthful.”
Pierre Hardy men’s,
holtrenfrew.com
Pull-on sneak-
ers, lechateau.
com.
CAFA guests
Jessica
Mulroney
and
Bernadette
Morra
Men’s leather
sneakers,
ecco.com
Checkerboard
Era sneakers,
vans.ca