What if we told you there was a shoe built to perform its hardest in the gym, feel its lightest on your commute, and look its sharpest at the office. Would you believe us? – Cole Haan
7 Days No Nike is not a shot at the Swoosh. After Nike’s latest quarterly report it’s clear the company has command of the entire sneaker industry. What is also evident is the brand is intent on dominating the news cycle on sneaker sites via the constant stream of releases. 7 Days No Nike is my decision to discuss a few brands that I’ve yet to buy a pair of kicks from, but I really need to because they are both functional and stylish.
The question under the picture above asks if we would believe a shoe could be made that does those things. My answer… of course, you made that shoe over ten years ago. I wasn’t going to the gym in it, but I definitely changed my entire idea of what dress and formal attire meant. It’s common knowledge for anyone who knows me that I could wear a different Cole Haan Lunargrand everyday of the week. I’ve been an avid fan of the brand since Nike owned them and introduced Lunarlon to dress shoes long before people termed athleisure the ‘in’ thing. The brand hasn’t slowed down post Nike with the introduction of the Grand, Zero Grand, Grand Pro and Os series. It could be stated that Cole Haan saw what Clae did on a small scale and replicated that into an upscale statement shoe that completely altered dress shoes for the next generation. I wouldn’t even hesitate to say that Cole Haan sped up the disappearance of Florshiems in department stores. Now they are attempting to carry their casual comfort into ‘performance’. Check out these taglines:
JUST BREATHE
A sock-like, StitchliteTM fit that breathes as easily as your yoga instructor and supports in all the right places.
A BUNDLE OF ENERGY
A super-cushioned footbed created
for bouncy steps, thanks to our own
compression molded foam.
YOU COULD USE A HUG
Your new favorite support
system, built to cradle and
cushion your entire foot.
The brand has delivered a very familiar silhouette, but they’ve done something that I suggested every brand with a knit shoe do. They utilized premium construction on the knit upper. Now, to be honest adidas has done an incredible job of adding leather and suede to the Consortium releases, but those have been very limited drops. Cole Haan is delivering the Zero Grand All Day Trainer as a general release. There isn’t a price given as the shoe won’t officially release until January 3rd, but at least they have given us two fairly clean shots of the Trainer. They also gave us a Balenciaga styled knit sock model for women that shows just how much brands are willing to copy what they percieve is cool as opposed to simply creating a great product.
Cole Haan really has only had to fight Steve Madden for the consumer’s eyes. They haven’t had to tell stories. The brand simply dropped their models, emailed and we made decisions to buy. As athletic brands move farther into the casual market and fashion sensibilities have swung to shoes like the UltraBOOST and Nike Element React being worn with suits and business casual, sports innovation as fashion is really the trend and the term athleisure is becoming a catch all of sorts.
Will the Cole Haan All Day Trainer make a splash? I’m not sure it will. While the model has the bulkiness of the dad shoe trend and the knit upper that is being done in every brand, when I think Cole Haan I think date night, not performance… then again, they don’t want me to think performance. The brand is just trying to convey that if you want to run in our shoes and hit the gym during or after work, you can.
What if we told you there was a shoe built to perform its hardest in the gym, feel its lightest on your commute, and look its sharpest at the office.