Blackstock & Weber’s Safari loafers hide a Nike reference

Mark: Blackstock & Weber

Model: Safari moccasin

Release date: November 26

Price: $ 345

To buy: Blackstock & Weber Instagram page

Editor’s Notes: Not yet aware of Blackstock & Weber? Now is the time to get acquainted. Chris Echevarria’s brand Brooklyn did for the loafer what social media curators did for gorpcore.

And it’s not that the humble moccasin never needed fixing, it’s just that Blackstock & Weber stripped the slip-on shoe of all the slip-on trends, playing on partnerships with J.Crew and Throwing Fits in a proper movement which sees sneakerheads shedding their laced-up kicks and OG menswear reclaims their love for loitering.

“When I started this brand, my goal was to take the things I liked and combine them,” says Echevarria. “I was a child born when the drops of Nike, Supreme, BAPE, Kidrobot, etc. ruled my schedule.”

Suffice to say that Echevarria knows what guys his age like and what keeps them from adopting the moccasin as their daily driver. Blackstock & Weber knocks down those barriers every time they drop another limited edition loaf of bread and their new design, the Safari Loafer, follows in those well-heeled footsteps.

“I’m a huge fan of the freedom that Nike sneaker designs allow through the play of fabric and storytelling,” continues Echevarria. “Every week there’s a new production, a new story or a new collaborator … and it doesn’t get old because it’s always a new perspective. I looked to create that in men’s fashion, starting out by the moccasin. ” Blackstock & Weber ready-to-wear will be available soon.

This open admiration for Nike plays into Echevarria’s Safari Loafer, which takes direct inspiration from some of his favorite legacy Swoosh drops.

“The Safari Loafer is inspired by animal packs that have existed through the flagship models and the history of Nike,” says Echevarria, referring to ancestors like the Nike collaborations of atmos.

It’s a heartfelt riff on one of Echevarria’s inspirations, which takes inspiration from the signals offered by Nike rather than borrowing them outright. That’s why there are three different animal designs all mixed together on the pony hair shaft.

Likewise, Blackstock & Weber is adopting a fairly new tactic for the launch of the Safari Loafer.

Rather than just ditching the shoe on its website, B&W is launching the Safari Loafer as part of a link to Instagram. It will be sold exclusively through B & W’s in-app payment function as a tribute to the social media that have followed the Echevarria label for the past three years.

“It is an honor, on the occasion of the third anniversary of our launch, to collaborate with the platform on which we have developed a brand and a community that we cherish,” he concluded.

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