The Brilliant Young Artisan Whose Converse Are "Magic Shoes" (EXCLUSIVE)
Shinya Kozuka is a clothing genius. Hyperbole, it ain't! Anyone designer capable of juggling high-concept creativity and real-deal wearability is a smart cookie. And Kozuka is a real snickerdoodle.
Here we have Kozuka's first-ever sneaker collaboration, a Converse shoe revealed as part of "Good morning, I wish I could fly, never mind," his Fall/Winter 2025 collection, presented during Tokyo Fashion Week in mid-February.
A graduate of London's Central Saint Martins, Kozuka's work speaks to his alma matter's reputation for breeding brilliance.
The Japanese designer's signature silhouette is the very definition of massive, shaped by generous garments high-falutin' in concept and remarkably grounded in form.
Think trucker jackets blown up to billboard scale, T-shirts stretched into theatrical shifts, work trousers cut with a high-rise and anatomic if mammoth leg. Ordinary clothes reclaimed as theatrical costumes to be worn on life's stage by all us players.
Kozuka's artistic gifts — Kozuka turns his own paintings into seasonal prints — yield artistic clothing conscious of our very un-artful reality. Clothes can be beautiful but they must also be worn. His are both.
His clothes have names that speak to their inspirations, like "His Shirt," a button-up whose exaggerated form imagines a layer borrowed from dad's closet, and "Deliveryman," a generous cargo pant sometimes made of sweatpant fleece jersey, sometimes made of a sporty technical nylon dyed in rainbow hues. Masculine, feminine, neither, all of the above.
Kozuka's Converse shoes are like a mini-mission statement. They are a reflection of Kozuka's current creative bent and a perfect entry point into his world, partially because Converse itself is an entry point for so much of culture.
"Before I got into fashion, Converse was always there—just like a pair of denim jeans, an everyday staple," Kozuka tells Highsnobiety. "While my approach to clothing has evolved, footwear was something I had little knowledge of, so I kept putting it off. But with this collaboration, it feels like I finally have ‘the magic shoes’ to take me to the next step."
When you look at Kozuka's "magic" Converse sneakers, what do you see? The artistic inclinations of a sk8r, perhaps, whose hand-scrawled illustrations are here reinterpreted as fine embroidery atop an archival sneaker. Or maybe the the no-nonsense anti-slip shoes of a working stiff, who depends on a muscular rubber mudguard and toe cap to keep their feet secure.
What about penguins?
"Last summer, I came across a vintage T-shirt with a peng uin print and the words, ‘I wish I could fly,’" Kozuka recalls.
"I instantly connected with it, seeing myself in that flightless bird. I've always made niche choices, perhaps longing to soar freely like other birds. But through my brand, I want to celebrate the niche — to affirm that it’s okay to be different. This collection is for those who walk their own path, step by step, believing that something beautiful awaits them ahead."
