Church’s first collaboration with Off-White, the cult streetwear label founded by the late Virgil Abloh, has just dropped online. Entitled "Off-White c/o Church’s", this capsule footwear collection was personally designed by Virgil Abloh – one of his final projects before the designer's untimely death in November 2021.
The shoes first made their debut at Paris Fashion Week earlier this year in February, not only on the catwalk in the Off-White “Spaceship Earth: an Imaginary Experience” fashion show at Palais Brongniart, but also thanks to being worn by musician Pharrell as he sat on the front row.
This genderless capsule collection combines the progressive ethos central to Virgil Abloh’s "Question Everything" philosophy with the artisan tradition and stylistic history of the British footwear brand. It showcases Abloh’s obsession with reinterpreting time-honoured designs using new references that provide them an entirely new context, without altering their true nature.
The first style in the collection to launch today is the Burwood x Off-White. Taking its name from Church’s storied Burwood style, which dates back to 1953, this classic full brogue Oxford with distinctive dovetail patterning emerges with a new, contemporary identity. Black brushed calfskin replaces the shoe’s conventionally brown suede upper, and “Special Events” (screen-printed in white in Off-White’s signature script) adorns the outside of the shoe. A trademark Off-White hangtag underscores the style’s shared origins.
"The Off-White x Church’s collaboration aims at bridging seemingly unrelated aesthetics, but is rooted in common values and research perspectives," says Church's CEO Denni Manzatto (pictured above). "One of Virgil Abloh’s last projects, the new Burwood is a bold reinterpretation of Church’s quintessential sophistication and heritage, recoded through Off-White’s spirit of rebellious realism.
"The launch marks an important milestone for Church’s, which has been historically associated with some of the finest formal footwear globally and today begins a new chapter of its journey, pointing to the exploration of the new formal codes.”
A second style in the "Off-White c/o Church’s" collection will drop later in the year.
On sale now at Off-White stores, Church’s stores and on church-footwear.com
