According to fashion experts, today they are a garment for all occasions and paints, the pandemic increased their use and it will be difficult to dethrone them
Beijing Chloé Zhao was the first Asian (and second woman) to win an Oscar in the Best Directing category for Nomadland. When her name was mentioned at this year’s gala she came up in a woven dress from French fashion house Hermès. The shoes? Some white tennis shoes.
And although it was not the first to combine tennis shoes and a gala dress in a celebration of this type (actresses Tina Fey and Millie Bobby Brown had already done it, both with equal white converse), it did show that after the restrictions of the pandemic tennis became an even stronger trend for any occasion, no matter how elegant it is.
A little history
Ángela Useche, a fashion consultant and an expert in footwear and leather goods, says that in the 80s it was not very well seen to wear tennis shoes with more elegant suits, “then the show people broke the schemes by appearing at events with tennis or shoes sports, traditionally arrived in converse ”.
But despite this daring, there are two influences that years later began to generate a change. The first were the athletes who incorporated sports shoes into their everyday attire, Michael Jordan, for example. The second is specified by Ana María Riveros, Sketchers product manager, when she recounted how New York executive women walked to the office in tennis shoes and then changed into heels.
Useche adds that bored of carrying two pairs of shoes, they began to lose tennis shoes and introduce sports shoes in moments of formality such as going to work.
Although tennis began to be seen in a different way, it was only until 2014 that the schemes were completely broken: the fashion house Chanel with Karl Lagerfeld at the head introduced tennis in its gala show: “That breaks all the schemes and there the world of fashion turns its eyes to sports footwear, to that aesthetic of seeing sophisticated and luxurious women, but with tennis shoes ”, says Useche.
A disruptive change
At that time, the recognized companies and brands in the world understood that market dynamics and created tennis for all occasions, but with differentiating points. “There are those specialized for running that are not the same for walking or for the newspaper, and little by little the users made sense of them,” says Rivero.
In 2017, for example, Sketchers launched tennis with straight heels, “quite concealed – Rivero says – but with a three-centimeter heel and an air chamber to provide good cushioning.” There has been that technological race for brands to provide the best options: “A very interesting exercise begins from technology, with more sophisticated, elaborate soles that combine with the upper part of the footwear, also the materials of the insoles and has It has been so much that today it is very normal for each pair of tennis shoes to have a detailed explanation of each of its parts ”, says the expert on footwear issues.
The momentum of the pandemic
For Useche, at the beginning of the forced quarantines, which occurred all over the world, comfort was combined with day-to-day life. “Already when this dragged on, people began to realize that they had nothing to be with at home other than their flip-flops. Before they got ready to go to work, now there was no need and both the shoes and the outfit went to a level of comfort ”.
This made the sports universe offer other options, “and here all the brands turned to making slippers, sandals, sweatshirts and tennis shoes. The rest of the categories disappeared, nobody wanted to wear heels at home and in fashion, when you repeat an action, it becomes normal ”.
That is why today, if a woman feels that she does not need to wear heels to go to the office, she is not going to put them on, “a door has opened in which users do not want to return because today they also find offers of beautiful and comfortable shoes”, says the consultant, who adds that tennis, at present, it will be very difficult to dethrone them. “I think that at least five more years will be allowed for another type of product so strong and forceful to appear.”
And has the user assimilated that variety? According to Rivero, the public has assumed that there is tennis for every occasion, but that there is still a pending education issue on the part of the brands. “It is to explain the reasons why with a pair of tennis shoes to go to a party you cannot go running because you can injure yourself. We like to be informative about how each shoe works and what the difference is. “
And since tennis shoes for all colors, activities and sports are a fact, it is good to ask before buying, because in addition to fashion, it is technology applied to comfort.
So without fear, dress up and combine the look with a good pair of tennis shoes. It does not matter if, for example, the degree is very elegant. The tennis shoes put the other touch on it.
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