In one of his last collaborations, the late Virgil Abloh united with historic footwear brand Church’s to ‘remaster’ the 1953 ‘Burwood’ Oxford brogue, a style first shown as part of his...
, featured one of his last collaborations – the Off-White take on Church’s storied ‘Burwood’ Oxford brogue, which dates back to 1953.
In his typically irreverent style – which often saw him remaster classic pieces, placing them in new contexts without altering their essence – the brogue is stamped with ‘Special Events’, screenprinted onto the side of the shoe in Off-White’s signature white Helvetica font . Elsewhere, black calfskin replaces the ‘Burwood’s usual brown upper, the laces read ‘Shoelaces’, and a large luggage tag, in leather, immediately recalls Off-White’s signature sneakers.
The collaboration appeared as part of an A/W 2022 collection that urged the viewer to ‘Question Everything’, one of Abloh’s defining mantras as a designer . Church’s notes that he brought this same ‘seditious’ approach to this collaboration, drawing on the British brand’s artisanal traditions and history – which dates back to the 1600s – to create footwear primed for the present day.