I was the ORIGINAL sneaker nut! When I was a (younger) Northern Youth, my friends and I became obsessed by Puma, Converse and most clearly - Adidas! And to all of you "millennials" out there, this was 1976/1977 Northern Ohio - Nike was not what it is today!
So I became obsessed with getting a REAL pair of GENUINE, MADE IN EUROPE Adidas shoes. There were two small drawbacks:
1. I had a kid's size 3.5 - which meant Buster Browns or Keds, but no Adidas available in our exotic location for such small feet.
2. Being all of 8 years old, pocket money would not nearly cover such a lavish expense as $30 - $40!
So enter my mother - who secretly scoured most of Northern Ohio to find a pair of Adidas Cadet shoes in my size, and they were under the Christmas tree! MAN - I LOVED THEM! They were white leather, with red and white stripes. Made in France - which to my way of thinking might as well have been the moon! I wore them EVERYWHERE! In the snow, in the rain, in the mud - always taking great care to clean them up afterwards.
Years later when I worked at Tourneau, customers would often state that the high end watch they were going to buy was an investment. I would say - yes and no. It is an emotional investment for sure, and if you keep it on that level you will never be disappointed. That very small pair of Adidas Cadets was for my mother an emotional investment in me.
And now, I am older. I see things a bit more cynically. But last year while visiting the oxen space in Lucerne, I felt the first stirrings of youthful enthusiasm for sneakers again -
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| Courtesy of Ilmia |
This the ilmia in white. A lot like the Model T, you can have it in any color you like, as long as it's white, black or brown ; ) And I like that!
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| Courtesy of ilmia |
I know what you're thinking - so "OLD FASHIONED"...
YES - thank goodness! There is something in all of us that wants the original - not an "homage", but the real deal, or as close as you can come. So it took a man with a bit of vision to bring back this classic.
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| Courtesy of ilmia |
WAIT - what has this got to do with watches??!?
I'm glad you asked!
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| Courtesy of ilmia |
This is Christian - watch designer formerly of Porsche Design. And here is the rest of the story courtesy of ilmia -
2004, Swiss industrial designer Christian Gafner discovered the limited-edition ilmia shoes on the Internet. It was love at first sight. Contact with the project’s Berlin initiators was quickly established and the whole story surrounding the sports shoe multinational and its injunction came out. Gafner’s practiced eye immediately spotted the shoes’ potential. Unpacking the pair he had ordered over the Internet, he breathed in a set of familiar scents: the hint of adhesive and the fragrance of leather that took him back to his childhood and the hours spent in his grandfather’s shoemaking workshop.
2006 found Christian Gafner working for Porsche Design, designing wristwatches for the prestigious brand. Deciding to take on the challenge of ilmia, he paid several visits to Berlin and spent the following two years preparing for the brand’s definitive relaunch. As a result, the shoes continue to be handcrafted in Weissenfels (Saxony-Anhalt, Germany). Through skilful application of the rules of shoemaking, every upper is hand fashioned from high-grade full-grain leather and fitted with an outsole.
The design reinforces the brand’s authenticity, steering clear of short-term fashion trends. ilmia has no graphical logo as such, preferring instead to embroider its distinctive logotype on the outer flank of the left shoe in acknowledgment of the orphaned left shoe found in the Berlin flea market – the event that triggered the brand’s rebirth.
So lace up a pair of ilmias and embrace your inner sneaker freak!
