With Filipino street vibes and trendy drips, Converse Create Next Live! featured a sneak peek of their new regional site and a special launch music campaign featuring Al James and Kiana V.
The much-celebrated pop culture brings collaborations that give us new life perspectives through style, film, and music. It is also a modern-day campfire to engage us in building connections with others and feeling like we belong in this fleeting world.
While this popular industry may often mean something new and fresh, it can reintroduce classics into modern collections. When it comes to timeless sneakers, there’s no denying that most of us have grown up with a pair of Converse.
Moving forward into future designs and unexpected connections, Converse had a special night of reveals and possibilities at Nokal Bar, Makati, last February 23. With a “Create Now, Create Next” campaign in full blast, Converse aims to connect with young and innovative leaders who are driving change through action, creativity, and sport.
Converse Create Next Live!
The event was held at Nokal, the perfect party scene in a basement where purple lights welcomed anyone out to look for something fun—the perfect setting for Converse’s street culture theme.
In true Filipino flair, the iconic jeepney was stationed at one of the parking lots with colorful hanging banderitas. They also have a compact disc “Create Next” background wall that reflects the blinding lights of the night. Next to these picture-perfect stages are the stalls of beloved Filipino street food such as the kwek-kwek, calamares, and fishball. Sorbetes or street ice-cream is also available with classic flavors of langka, ube, and strawberry.
Packing the venue were social media influencers, content creators, models, and of course, artists—wavemaker musicians like Timmy Albert, Rayne Bueno, and Ysa Ferráz. Invitees poured in at around 6:00 p.m. in their best fits, ranging from denim vests and cropped tops to high-waist shorts and leather pants.
Going LIVE!
Converse knew how to party with their All Stars. All Star DJ Alfred Sangil cues up the best songs for this lively night, and also showcasing her music play was All Star DJ Kate Jagdon with club classics.
In high spirits, host Dani Mortel opens the night with an electrifying energy that sends the crowd cheering and screaming. She also gives everyone a sneak peek video of the converse.ph website on the screen. The e-commerce website will soon go live with all of the brand’s latest collections.
After the video, Converse PH’s Marketing Manager Mr. Arvie Dizon took the dancefloor stage. He happily greeted everyone present. “We’re doing a lot of things tonight, not just having a sneak peek of converse.ph, but also launching the latest Converse Create Next music campaign helmed by All Stars Al James and Kiana V. You guys can also see some hot sneakers here. We are launching a new collection for the spring and summer collection 2023.”
On both sides of the DJ booth are displays of the said hot sneakers: the Chuck 70 with archival-inspired details with modern comfort, CX for new comfort and new movement, Chuck 70 AT – CX that delivers elevation like never before, Run Star Motion to fuel our self-expression, and Run Star Hike fashion-forward reimagination of classic chunks.
Donning a Converse x Ader Error blue varsity jacket himself, Arvie announced they’d launch the Ader Error collection soon. He also took this opportunity to welcome a special guest, Christy Ho, the Regional Marketing Manager from Singapore.
When asked what she expected from the launching of converse.ph soon, Christy said, “Just lots and lots of awesomeness.”
Converse All Stars
Further fuelling the All Stars campaign, Arvie shared the inspiration for this idea. “Ultimately, we want to work with creatives from music, sports, fashion, so around the world, we’re working with real creative people who are championing and advocating—who basically love the brand and give them experiences.”
Before the Converse All Stars initiative, there was Converse X. Arvie shared a few words to explain this shift and shed light on the overall thrust of the brand: “As we all know, Converse is a popular brand known as All Stars. [That means] everyone is equal. Everyone can be creative.”
After the introductions, host Dani invited All Star Cathy to the dancefloor for a quick conversation about her experience with being a Converse All Star. “Converse International and PH have always believed in me. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience. It means the world to me because they helped me to become an established artist.”
For the host, Dani, being an All Star is never settling for what’s just there. “It’s for us to always remember to keep creating next, to keep being ourselves, and to keep showing up and taking space.”
Unexpected Collaboration
As Filipinos, we are connected through our roots and our Pinoy Pride. Converse recently tapped two best OPM artists for a cross-genre collaboration that promises to deliver a unique Filipino sound to the world.
For Converse’s Create Next music campaign, Kiana V. and Al James teamed up to create a beat representing Filipino street culture and music. It is a soundtrack that combines their voices with the sounds of the busy streets of the Philippines.
“They come from different genres. We don’t expect them to come together, but that’s the beauty of everything. We get two different people coming together with two different sounds and we get something fresh and new,” Christy said on the pair up for the music campaign.
Both Kiana and Al expressed their excitement for the finished product of their unexpected collaboration, which will be included in the iconic brand’s latest music release called “Converse All Star Anthem” that will be out this coming March.
“I am excited for the turnout of this collaboration with Al James,” said the multi-talented R&B singer and songwriter.
Meanwhile, rapper Al James also took pride in being given a chance to represent the country in the global campaign: “Filipino talent deserves to be heard around the world.”
The Converse All Star Anthem is a collection of new and original music created by Converse All Stars and collaborators around the world. Inspired by the creative notion of unexpected connections, the global All Star Anthem will mix diverse cultural beats, talent, and musical influences in a single track created by All Stars around the world and produced by Brazilian icon Marcelo D2.
With world-class music, the host introduced the voice of hip music: Kiana V. She performed her original songs “Does She Know”, “Heartbeat On Me”, and “Safe Place.” But it wasn’t just Kiana V. who made the crowd go wild. Al James also performed his songs “Pahinga” and “Mood” with Muric.
Finally, to cap off the night and with another surprise from Converse, All Star Timmy Albert also came on stage to give a live performance. He sang “Rent Free”, an early taste of the song that was set to be released on Spotify that midnight.
From stylish and timeless chunks to parties with great music and performances, Converse continues to be a catalyst for lively events that fuel the next generation of creators.
To get to know more about the latest Converse collections and campaigns, check out their Facebook and Instagram.
