CONVERSE AND KENZO TEASE A SECOND COLLAB WITH JACK PURCELL

Chuck 70. Jack Purcell. One caption: "Stay tuned." Converse and Kenzo just teased their second collaboration, and this time NIGO is putting his own runway behind it instead of a standalone capsule drop.

The first Converse x Kenzo collection landed April 2025 as a Chuck 70 exclusive. Adding the Jack Purcell to round two means Converse is trusting Kenzo with a second silhouette, and that only happens when the first one actually sold.

Kenzo Already Did the Chuck 70 Once

In April 2025, Converse and Kenzo released their first ever collaboration under NIGO's creative direction, three Chuck 70s built around an all over Hana Leopard motif pulled from both brands' 1980s archives. One high top landed in Sweet Corn yellow, two lows in Pink Cosmos and Cypress, styled as a time capsule of collegiate Americana filtered through Kenzo's own print language.

That collection sold as a limited run tied to a specific print, not an ongoing partnership. The new teaser signals something bigger: a second silhouette joining the first, and a runway show behind it instead of a quiet capsule drop.

1976. Same Square, New Runway.

NIGO staged Kenzo's Spring Summer 2027 collection at Place des Victoires in Paris, the same square where founder Kenzo Takada opened his first flagship boutique in 1976. The Converse footwear built for that show, new versions of the Chuck 70 and the low top Jack Purcell, carries varsity codes, floral graphics and a bonsai motif, with archival references pulling from photographs of Takada himself and 1970s cultural figures including Miles Davis.

Finally Offline covered Converse handing its Chuck Taylor to Collina Strada's Hillary Taymour for an FW26 runway debut at New York Fashion Week, kitsch prints and oversized bows built for one show moment with a single named creative director. Kenzo's approach reads differently: continuity with an existing partner and a second silhouette added to the lineup, not a single season stunt built around one designer's name attached for a single cycle.

The Jack Purcell and Chuck 70 Do Not Share a Last

Putting the Jack Purcell through NIGO's floral and bonsai treatment alongside a reworked Chuck 70 means Kenzo is applying one consistent design vocabulary across two very different shoes. The Chuck 70 runs heavier canvas than a standard Chuck Taylor, with a thicker vulcanized rubber sole and an OrthoLite insole Converse added specifically for the reissue line. The Jack Purcell is a lower profile vulcanized shoe built on a smile toe design dating back to 1935, with a slimmer canvas or leather upper depending on the version. Running both through the same varsity and floral language is a harder brief than reskinning one silhouette twice, since the two shoes do not share a last, a sole unit or a weight class to begin with.

Converse has also been busy relaunching the Jack Purcell on its own terms this year, with a First String premium version arriving September 8 in a widened last with Vibram outsole and Nike Air cushioning. Kenzo's version runs on a separate track entirely, closer to the runway than the archive footwear program.

Stay Tuned Means Paris Sets the Calendar

Converse and Kenzo have not confirmed a retail date. What is confirmed is the SS27 runway placement, which typically means a showroom to retail lag of several months before a Kenzo collaboration reaches Converse.com or Kenzo's own stores. The April 2025 debut followed that same runway first, retail later pattern.

The teaser image itself, Chucks and a Jack Purcell shot together with no product shot of the actual construction, is doing exactly what a two word caption should do: confirm the pairing exists and make people wait for Paris to explain why.

Wait for Paris Before You Judge the Print

A first collaboration proved Kenzo and Converse can sell a print together. A second, expanding into a new silhouette and backing it with an actual runway show at Kenzo's own founding address, is the bigger bet. The Hana Leopard Chuck 70 sold as a capsule. This one is being positioned as a continuing house language.

Watch for the retail date once SS27 pieces start shipping, and expect the Jack Purcell version to carry the higher price given the floral and bonsai detailing NIGO put into the runway samples. Judge the actual construction when real photos land, not the teaser.