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Both brings rubber and leather innovation to the sneaker world
In just a few months, emerging sneaker label Both has established a presence in over sixty of the world's top concept and department stores, from L'Eclaireur in Paris to Opening Ceremony in New York, Selfridges and Liberty in London, Série Noire in Lille, France, and across Italy.
Both is based on Paris since 2016, and its designer, Singapore-born George Zhu, is a chemist who has been exploring the industrial applications of natural rubber for thirty years.
Zhu works with his own design studio since 2014, sourcing the raw materials from South-East Asia and seeing in rubber "the embodiment of a new-found vitality, [Zhu's] objective being to preserve the natural beauty and unrivalled properties of rubber."
The first models of Both's 2017 collection were launched last year and made an immediate impact. They are manufactured in Italy and China out of vulcanised rubber, water-proof canvas or leather (in natural leather, white, green or orange monochrome), with rubber soles deliberately overlapping onto the shoes' uppers.
The first range was followed by a winter 2017-18 collection, mixing low sneakers and booties in a white, khaki and natural leather palette, and a summer 2018 collection combining rubber with Ventile, a UK-produced cotton at once breathable and water-repellent, already used by Mackintosh.
The latest from Both is a capsule collection for Spring/Summer 2018 consisting of three models sporting the red, white and blue of France, first introduced at the end of October at Selfridges in London and then going 'on tour' in Hong Kong (IT), Shanghai, Seoul (10 Corso Como) and on Luisa Via Roma's website.
Both shoes are priced between €290 and €330, and are positioned in the high-end segment for contemporary sneakers.
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