Anna Sui gives Converse’s All Star Aged Hi a gothic-romantic twist
Butterfly embroidery, a metallic lace charm and aged black canvas turn Converse’s Chuck into Anna Sui’s latest gothic-romantic calling card.
Anna Sui’s latest Converse shoe lands exactly where streetwear keeps rewarding the most specific point of view: the All Star Aged Hi gets dressed up in black canvas, lavender-purple accents and a filigreed butterfly motif that feels equal parts sweet and slightly sinister. The official name is ALL STAR AGED HI / ANNA SUI, and the pair sits on Converse’s aged base with a worn-in finish that makes the romance look lived-in rather than precious. It landed at ¥15,400, a price that keeps it in the reachable zone for a fashion collab, especially one with this much detail.
The strongest move is how thoroughly the color story is carried through the shoe. Converse Japan extended the purple to the lining, insole and outsole, which gives the sneaker a more complete, styled look than a simple logo swap. The release also comes with white spare cotton laces and an original du-bre lace accessory, the kind of finishing touch that makes the pair feel closer to an Anna Sui accessory than a standard Chuck Taylor update. Converse Japan listed sizes from 22.0 to 26.0 cm, underscoring that this is a tightly edited drop rather than a mass-market play.
That editing matters because Anna Sui and Converse are using the same formula that keeps crossover sneakers relevant: let a recognizable silhouette absorb a designer’s world without losing its street-level utility. This is the second Converse x Anna Sui footwear collaboration, following a first release built around two WEAPON silhouettes. Where that earlier project leaned on Converse history through a basketball lens, this one shifts to the All Star and uses gothic-romantic codes to refresh it for a different buyer, one who wants something feminine, a little subcultural and not too polished.
Anna Sui’s own brand history gives the shoe more weight than a one-off graphic exercise. She launched her collection in 1981, staged her first New York runway show in 1991 and now sells in more than 30 countries. That long runway of brand identity is exactly why the collaboration works: the butterfly embroidery and metallic charm feel like shorthand for a designer who has spent decades building her own language of romance, edge and ornament. Converse’s All Stars platform, which connects creatives through digital and physical experiences, is built for this kind of exchange. In 2026, the formula still feels sharp: take a legacy sneaker, age it up, and let a distinct designer make it irresistibly niche.
This article was produced by Prism’s automated news system from verified source data, official records, and press releases, then run through automated quality and moderation checks before publishing. The system is built and supervised by the people who set the standards it runs under. Read our full AI policy.
Did this article answer your question?
