Converse, and pretty boy/3pt assassin Kyle Korver, launched the new MyChucks contest this Friday, inviting participants to design a Chuck Taylor® All Star® shoe with the chance to win the ultimate prize of having their shoe produced by Converse and sold exclusively by Eastbay. Converse did a similar contest during their 100 years campaign. I don’t really know how exciting this is going to turn out. I actually prefer my chucks to be solid colors but who knows this could open doors for anyone out there who has any type of aspiration of designing sneakers or apparel. I might not be too excited about the idea of designing chucks but I do think this contest is a great opportunity, not only for the designer that wins but for the children in the Kyle Korver Foundation who will receive a pair of the Kyle Korver designed Chucks. You have to give the guy props for hooking up the underprivileged homies with some fancy footwear. When I was coming up all I had was some leather straps wrapped around cardboard that would get soggy when it rained… Ok maybe I’m lying but, I did only get one pair of shoes a year if i was lucky. I wish I had somebody looking out for me like how Korver is looking out for those kids.
To enter, contestants can visit mychucks.eastbay.com to download the entry kit that contains a silhouette of the Chuck Taylor All Star shoe and contest instructions. Participants need to submit a scanned image of their design and a 20-30 second video explaining their entry. Submissions will be placed in an online, public gallery where visitors can vote on each design. Visitors to the website can also register for a chance to win a new pair of Chuck Taylor All Star shoes every day between April 28 and July 6.
The top five designs with the most votes will enter the final round of judging which is determined by the total number of votes, and the judging of artistic ability, creative expression and overall design by a panel from Converse and Eastbay. The Grand Prize will be announced on or about July 11, 2008 on mychucks.eastbay.com. The winner will be flown to Converse headquarters to work with designers and developers and create the final version of the shoe, which will be produced and sold on Eastbay.com beginning in January 2009. To be eligible for the MyChucks contests, participants must be at least 18 years of age, a U.S. resident and enter their design by June 8, 2008.
Now to go slightly off topic, I found this quote interesting and it sparked a question in my head, here is the quote. “I’m very excited for the MyChucks contest because it gives people the opportunity to express themselves by using the most iconic shoe of all time.” Most iconic shoe of all time? I don’t know about that, that’s arguable, I’m going to go do some research on this and I’ll get back to you real soon. Until then go design some chucks!
