Eric Emanuel and Converse Drop Denim Chuck 70 and Revived Weapon Ox

The Chuck 70 at $105 is the easier sell, but the Weapon Ox is the more interesting story.

Eric Emanuel's second Converse collaboration quietly expanded the vocabulary of his ongoing partnership this week, adding a silhouette that most streetwear brands have avoided: the Weapon Ox, a low-profile court shoe that debuted in 1986 as a performance basketball sneaker worn by Larry Bird and Magic Johnson on their way to championship victories. The Ox cut of that model never got the cultural rehabilitation the high-top version has been enjoying since Hiroshi Fujiwara and Fragment Design cracked it open for streetwear in 2023. Emanuel choosing it now, rather than a third or fourth Chuck 70 colorway, signals confidence in what he's building with Converse.

Emanuel charted his Converse partnership in 2025, debuting a colorful Chuck 70 capsule timed to the reopening of his SoHo flagship. That first chapter established the visual grammar: oversized interlocked "EE" initials, clean basketball silhouettes, and material choices that felt deliberate rather than decorative. This second chapter pushes the material work further. The Chuck 70 arrives with a dark blue denim upper contrasted by lighter-wash denim on the medial side, heel strip, and tongue, with the EE logo woven on the lateral side and the signature Chuck patch on the medial. An extra "EE" hit lands on the license plate, the small rectangular tag at the heel that Converse collectors treat as a canvas. The hardened-denim construction gives the Chuck 70 a structured, almost tailored stiffness that separates it from the canvas-soft feel of Emanuel's 2025 entries — it reads less like a gym shoe and more like something you'd pair with a raw-denim trouser or an oversized coaches jacket.

For the Weapon Ox, the same materiality peeks through the collar and on the Star logo on the quarter panel, with a faux-aged midsole and signature Emanuel branding on the insoles. The overall arrangement is restrained. Where the Chuck 70 announces itself with graphic branding across the upper, the Weapon Ox keeps its EE presence architectural, tucked into details that reward a second look. That makes the Weapon the more wearable of the two on a daily basis: the lower profile and quieter branding slot into more outfits, while the Chuck 70's two-tone denim and bold logo make it a statement piece that earns its own outfit.

The Weapon Ox is pulled from Converse's basketball archive and reframed here for a lifestyle context, which is exactly the kind of curatorial move that separates a meaningful collab from a logo-drop exercise. The Weapon's streetwear resurgence has been building for three years, with brands like Undefeated, Kasina, and A-COLD-WALL* all adding their weight to the silhouette. Emanuel's version is the first to bring it into his specific New York sportswear register, and it fits.

The Chuck 70 is priced at $105. Converse has not confirmed pricing for the Weapon Ox. The collaboration dropped April 3 exclusively via Eric Emanuel online and in-store, with the wider launch via SNKRS and retail partners following today, April 7. If the 2025 SoHo capsule is any guide, the exclusive window moved quickly; the SNKRS release today is the practical entry point for most.