A Step Into The Unknown:

Off-White™ c/o Church’s

A luxury shoe brand founded in Northampton in 1873 and the rebellious contemporary fashion disruptor might not normally make easy bed fellows. But with the capsule footwear collection Off-White™ c/o Church’s the two brands have come together in a collaboration that is at once surprising, exciting and natural.

The Off-White™ c/o Church’s collection was designed exclusively by Virgil Abloh and was one of the last projects he worked on before his untimely passing at the age of 41 in November 2021. True to his anarchic, “question everything” style, the genderless capsule collection reinterprets Church’s heritage designs in new and exciting ways. Abloh described it as ‘remastering a classic’ – taking the traditional form of a Church’s shoe and seeing it in a new light.

The first drop in the brands’ collaboration is the Burwood x Off-White™. Church’s Burwood brogue, the classic lace-up oxford that the shoemaker introduced in 1953, has been transformed with black brushed calfskin replacing the shoe’s traditionally brown suede upper and “Special Events” has been brandished in Off-White’s signature script across the side. The words play wryly with the formality of the shoe and fit with Off-White and Abloh’s dry and humorous approach to slogans that have included handbags emblazoned with “Cash Inside” and “Insert Money Here” and trainers that read “For Walking”. Or the tie Abloh wore at Paris Fashion Week in July 2021 with “A Formality” written down its centre: a mischievous deconstruction of social mores about the way to dress.

In a similarly playful style, the shoelaces read “Shoelaces” in ticker-tape style from end to end. A trademark Off-White zip tie, often added as a flourish and nod to Abloh’s love of industrial design (he was a civil engineering and architecture graduate) on the brand’s accessories and especially its sneakers, is attached to the oxford’s laces in contrasting forest green.

The collection debuted on the runway of the Off-White “Spaceship Earth: an ‘Imaginary Experience’” show at Palais Brongniart during Paris Fashion Week – the final collection that Abloh worked on for Off-White. True to his subversive style, the Burwood x Off-White™ oxfords appeared on the feet of Pharrell Williams on the front row of the audience rather than on the runway, a tantalising glimpse that only makes sense in retrospect, a special event indeed.

The Off-White™ c/o Church’s capsule collection is available at Off-White stores, Church’s stores, and by clicking here.