CONVERSE PUTS SUEDE ON THE FIRST STRING JACK PURCELL

Converse's First String Jack Purcell is now available in two new colors cut in premium suede, at select retailers, two months after the shoe came back in leather. Converse describes the new pairs as "premium suede, considered craftsmanship, and a little play outside the lines." The material is the news: the September launch pairs were listed with leather uppers, and the new colors move the Vibram soled Jack Purcell to suede.

Suede Replaces Leather on a Shoe Built to Be Clean

The First String Jack Purcell launched in early September in white and green, and retailer listings described a premium leather upper, a Vibram rubber outsole and CX foam with a Nike Air sockliner. Reviewers pointed to vintage style laces with metal aglets, beveled eyelets, thicker midsole tape and a subtly reshaped rubber smile inlay across a shorter toe cap.

Suede changes how that construction reads. Leather on a court shoe wipes clean and keeps its shape; suede takes a mark and a scuff and shows where you walked. For a shoe that began as a badminton sneaker, that is a step away from the court and toward the closet. The toe cap still smiles.

Converse describes the two colors only as new and does not name them in its announcement, so the pairs are best checked at the store.

The Price Ladder Has a New Top Rung

Converse sells the classic Chuck Taylor low top for roughly $58 to $65 and the Chuck 70 for about $90 to $100, and collaborations and premium editions ran from $80 to $205 in 2026. The First String Jack Purcell was listed at $250, which puts it above every other Converse price on that ladder, and the brand sells it only through retail partners such as Kith. Converse says First String is available only through its retail partners worldwide, and an Australian retailer lists a recommended price of AUD 400. The Vaquera collaboration went the other way: it arrived on Converse.com and Nike SNKRS, so one week of Converse releases ran through two different front doors.

That sits oddly against the numbers behind the brand. Nike's fiscal 2026 report shows Converse lowering prices while revenue fell 32 percent on a currency neutral basis. A $250 suede sneaker is not a volume play on that evidence. It is a statement of what the name can still charge for when the product is made carefully, at about four times the price of a Chuck Taylor low top.

A Badminton Shoe From Guelph

Jack Purcell was a Canadian badminton champion from Guelph, Ontario, who designed a canvas and rubber court sneaker for the B.F. Goodrich Company of Canada in 1935. Converse acquired the rights in the early 1970s, and the toe rubber, which gave the shoe its "Smilies" nickname, has been its signature since. First String now rebuilds that nine decade old design with the toe cap shortened and the sole upgraded to Vibram.

That history matters to the suede version because the shoe was never meant to be precious. It was built for lateral movement and a reinforced toe on a court. Putting a napped material on a design made for sweat and floorboards turns a work shoe into a dress one.

Suede Twice in Two Weeks

The Jack Purcell is the second suede Converse of the fortnight. Vaquera's VX 1 Heel went on sale October 27, setting a kitten heel under the archival CS Pro 1 skate shoe in suede with a padded mesh tongue, fronted by Kim Petras. A week later, on November 3, Converse put its Industry Standard footwear on Converse.com, slip resistant, water and oil repellent restaurant shoes built with Ghetto Gastro co founder Jon Gray, who tested them in New York.

Put those three together and the brand is working a very wide range in one month: a heeled skate shoe, a shift shoe for line cooks and a $250 Vibram soled sneaker. Each is a different customer, and suede is the thread that connects two of them.

The Jack Purcell is the one with the history behind it and the retail partners in front of it. Two new colors are on the shelves now, and the leather pairs that started the line in September are still the shoes against which the suede will be judged.