While going through more pages of our favorite magazines, we came across probably one of the most significant developments during the 80's. The introduction of the Personal Computer. One thing that comes to mind when talking about the 80’s, are the advances that were made in the digital realm of computing. Making computers available to the general public. However having a personal computer ( yes that is what “PC” stands for) at home was not common in the early 80’s, but that was all about to change. The personal computer that was most reminiscent of those years of computer evolution has to be the Commodore 64. Although one of the most recognizable features of the design was the beige/brown exterior, we...
Continue reading
As we read through our favorite news magazines from times gone by, we bump into our next item on the Color inspiration for the ARC-R Micro. Our fascination with aviation always finds a way to end up in our designs. We talked previously about the TU-144 (the Russian answer to the British/French: Concord), well they were also competing on a higher altitude. Because we used more technical material on the ARC-R: Micro, it was only fitting to look at the more technical part of “aviation” that was going on in the 80’s. That was found in the Space race. We all know the Spaceshuttle program developed by NASA and to keep up with the competition the USSR had a similar...
Continue reading
The 80's, an era full of computers, space travel, and sport material developments. Our “true to classic sports” style of the ARC-R. With this style, we make a nod to materials used on running shoes from the 80’s. The felt material is very typical for that era of running shoes. We wanted to create a look that you can wear casual but also to the gym. As we are a sports influenced brand it’s only fitting to bring our interpretation of an authentic sports style shoe. All materials are premium and made in Europe. like the Cordura mesh, sole, and microsuede from Italy, the antibacterials insole and lining from Spain. All are assembled by hand and with care in Portugal....
Continue reading
The Beach This is the first of a series where we reveal the inspiration behind the design. First up are the ARC-R LO + and MID + in the Cali beach color way. Traveling the globe in search of inspiration, our first go around took us to the beaches of California. We started our journey at Carmel beach, known for it’s white sand beach. The color and texture is reflected in the off-white suede. While at the beach, it’s hard to miss the wooden lifeguard towers. In comparison to today's towers, the pre-millennial wooden towers also came in white. It’s that smooth wood painted white that is reflected in the smooth off-white leather. For the accents, we...
Continue reading
The design for the ARC series is inspired aviation, more specifically a supersonic commercial passenger plane the TU-144. The idea came from our designer who at an early age saw shapes of planes in shoe designs. We love the idea of the TU-144 as an inspiration as it comes from an era that had a lot of functional minimalistic designs on multiple fronts. The name ARC is a derivative from the term ogee ARCh, it is a certain type of arch shape that is very commonly found in supersonic planes. We love design and shapes that communicate “speed”. Back to the TU-144, this type of plane had a set of retractable canards on the front part of the fuselage, this...
Continue reading