The origins of your Kulte pair
In this week's Kultorama, we'll be talking about our most classic shoes. Through a Kulturel article, full of anecdotes and pop references, we answer your questions about the origins and popularization of your favorite pair of pumps. From then on, all we have to do is wish you a good reading…
It is to Candde Manufacturing that we owe the first shoe created for sport in 1868. Made of canvas and rubber for the sole (a real small revolution for the time), its ambition was to support the athletes to surpass themselves, and this requires above all their comfort in their shoes!
A technological advance that we owe to the invention of rubber made during the 15th century, but above all to Charles Goodyear (famous tire manufacturer), who through a revolutionary process adapted his rubber to make soles.
This process is called vulcanization, and was recently paid tribute by Virgil ABLOH (very recently appointed men's artistic director at Louis Vuitton) with his OFF-WHITE label, on a model more than 100 years old, the Converse All Star Chuck Taylor
The Converse All Star owes its name to a former pro basketball player Chuck Taylor who became a representative for Converse following his sporting career, having greatly contributed to the success of the model, it will be renamed in his honor.
This model has greatly contributed to democratizing sports shoes in our everyday outfits, thanks to its use by NBA stars since 1921. It was in the 1960s that the latter was worn by almost all of the NBA players. Which will logically create a real fashion effect.
Another model truly marked the history of sport before becoming a pop culture icon, it is obviously the Nike Cortez.
Initially a running shoe intended for long-distance runners, the Nike Cortez made its appearance at the Munich Olympic Games in 1972. Created by Bill BOWERMAN, a former university athletics coach, the Cortez experienced dazzling success that same year with the great public.
This success will be all the more important as she will be seen at the feet of influential personalities of the time such as Arnold SCHWARZENEGER or Farrah FAWCETT (“Droole de Dames”)
Obviously it was in 1994 with the release of the globally successful film “Forrest Gump” that the Cortez was entitled to its consecration as a Kulte object.
Even today, it is a model that creates real enthusiasm, the best example being the very recent collaboration between Kendrick LAMAR and Nike, where the Cortez served as a medium of expression.
A very French tennis shoe this time, which also enjoyed real commercial success, the Spring Court G2.
Originally a shoe designed for tennis players playing on clay, the pair took advantage of the excitement of the 60's to become the fashionable pair.
Indeed, this pair worn in particular by John LENNON on the cover of “Abbey Road” in 1969 as well as on the day of his marriage to Yoko ONO will make it a true symbol of pop culture.
On the French side, it is the legendary couple of Jane BIRKINE and Serge Gainsbourg who have greatly contributed to the success of tennis.
There is another French tennis court which was initially created for sport, it is the international little Bensimon.
Originally a shoe designed for French army gymnasts, the latter found itself in the creative hands of Serge BENSIMON who worked in the family business reselling military surplus.
Originally white, Serge BENSIMON had the brilliant idea of dyeing them, and met with immediate success.
Following this unexpected success, he designed a model inspired by this gym shoe, little Bensimon was born.
Let us remember that we are at the beginning of the 1970s, in the middle of the Cold War, and that there is an important post-Woodstock pacifist movement in the United States, and post-May 68 for France, which explains the important military trend in the streets of the world, as if to denounce this climate of tension.
Monopolized by influential personalities such as Charlotte GAINSBOURG and Claudia SCHIEFFER, Bensimon has become a true institution of French living
Which brings us to tell you about the BENSIMON X KULTE collaboration, which includes at its heart the famous Bensimon Kulte style
A colorful creative fusion in honor of the desert landscapes of Arizona, having as creative support a historic product that has become iconic, simply Kulte…