Shoe brands are rubbernecking to develop a shorthand men’s shoe as an
everyday alternative to the dress shoe. Prada Sport made many an inroad
to this genre, introducing men to the fine art of blending a molded rubber
sole that could withstand city streets with ease with leather and design
details that mirrored the feeling of transport that very sole represented.
Camper has built a brand and a chain of stores on this very concept.
Hogan’s profile was raised a couple years back with a hybrid shoe
promoting low-key Italian luxury. And Patrick Cox before them, with his
chunky and much ripped off Wannabes, gave us a more literal interpretation
of the easy slide-on one could wear to a club just as easily as on a
stroll to Sainsbury’s. Even Doc Martens in their transformation from
stolid workhorse to anarchy-raising punk gear showed men a bit of what
could happen when a solid leather upper met a street-worthy sole. Flash forward to November 2003 on the streets of London, Paris, and Tokyo, and
it’s evident that the footwear choice for a new crop of trend-setting men
is the Swear Urban Collection (not to be confused with Swear‘s out there
club stomping platforms), a groundbreaking line that combines iconic
design detail from wingtips, classic shoe stitching, and even a direct
reference to Stan Smith‘s tennis shoes with shock absorbing comfort soles
and a signature pointy toe. Known as the Dean 2, 3, 4, 5 and 7, these
styles represent the next generation of men’s shoes, effortlessly
propelled by key shoe references from the last 30 years that are
disseminated through a line that’s been resonating with the very hip. The
label already has freestanding stores across London, Tokyo, Moscow and
Hong Kong.

- Meghan Cleary
Photo: Swear Urban Collection