The LGBTQ communities will have plenty of marching shoe options this month,
as sneaker and footwear brands kick-started their rainbow-hued Pride
collections and campaigns. The month of June, this year officially and
globally recognised as celebrating Gay Pride, commemorates New York’s 1969
Stonewall riots, a watershed moment in the modern LGBTQ rights movement
that started 50 years ago on June 28th.
Two years ago the state of New York vowed to make the 50 year anniversary
the largest celebration of Pride in history, in one of the most widely
covered global campaigns to date. Many fashion and footwear brands have
taken the cue and launched merchandise and Pride collections to both
capitalise and support the movement.
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The rainbow logo is equally symbolic as it is commercial
It is only in the past few years that the rainbow logo became equally
symbolic and commercial in value. It began, perhaps reluctantly, with
cultural institutions raising the rainbow flag, recognising the vital
contribution LGBTQ persons made and continue to make to society. But as New
York plans its biggest Pride celebration to date, the U.S. has taken a step
back as American embassies in Germany, Israel, Brazil and Latvia were
denied permission by Trump’s State Department to fly the rainbow flag on
their flagpoles.
Retailers have been more savvy, visually merchandising their shelves and
windows to embrace the pink pound, if not to show solidarity. While there
is an undeniable tinge of commercial gain from companies selling
rainbow-logo’d product, to see traditional sportswear brands like Nike,
adidas and Reebok embrace diversity is highly welcoming, and shows the
world these company take issues of tolerance and equality seriously. As
large employers it is also a chance to celebrate staff diversity and start
new conversations with their customers.
So which footwear brands have gone the extra rainbow mile this year?
In May adidas launched a quartet of pride-inspired details and sneakers,
with rainbow-accents on the Ultra Boost 19, Continental 80 and Adilette
slide. Each pair is executed in a white-based colourway that’s complemented
with the pride flag colours.
Nike last month launched its Betrue collection, which the company states is
in recognition of the 50-year anniversary of the Stonewall uprising and
pays homage to the late Gilbert Baker— LGBTQIA+ rights activist and
designer of the rainbow flag. Its special-edition Air Tailwind 79 features
a deconstructed mesh upper with baby blue and baby pink accents. A rainbow
stripe is embroidered on the heel and the sockliner graphic represents the
eight colors and meanings from the original flag in 1978.
Converse designed a sneaker to spread the love
Converse, one of the most highly profile industry supporters of the LGBTQ
community, says “it is committed to supporting movements for positive
social change and amplifying youth voices as they spark progress to build
the future they believe in.” In product terms it was one of the first to
debut an annual Pride collection five years ago, with contributions to
supporting longstanding local and global partners, including It Gets Better
Project and OUT MetroWest in the U.S.
Reebok, too, has stepped up to the mark, launching a limited edition Pride
collection, which sees rainbow updates to its iconic Club C, Classic
Leather and Freestyle trainers. The company stated a portion of the
proceeds from sales will be donated to Fenway Health to support their
ongoing mission of enhancing the wellbeing of the LGBT community, and all
people, through access to the highest quality health care, education,
research and advocacy.
Image sources Nike, adidas, Reebok and Converse websites