There’s a lot of merit in not quitting. Not giving up. Not changing – no matter how much people say you should. Call it stubborn, call it stuck in its ways, call it whatever you want – but we’ve got a lot of respect for things that refuse to change. Having a clear plan and sticking to it is admirable. And if any boot embodies that attitude, it’s the Kickers Kick Hi.
The Kick Hi is ubiquitous – worn by everyone and anyone. It might just be the most accessible piece of footwear in existence. How many boots can say they’ve been worn by half of Britain’s schoolchildren and Skepta?
There are many, many things that have made the Kick Hi the icon that it is, but once you strip back the reams of culture associated with it, you’re left with a boot. Plain & simple. That iconic crepe sole, padded collar, chunky stitching and of course those bright red and green tabs.
It really is a thing of unorthodox beauty – you have always been able to, and will always be able to, spot a Kick Hi from a mile off.
The story goes that in the 1970s, a Frenchman called Daniel Raufast found himself fixated on a poster advertising a musical called Hair. The poster depicted a crowd of teenagers in light-wash denim, but something was off… they weren’t wearing any shoes. Raufast was taken by the lightly coloured jeans – a relatively new invention for the time – but felt that there was no footwear Yin to the denims Yan.
His solution to this? To create a boot that would go hand in hand with the fabric of the moment. So, he set to work, alongside designer Jacques Chevallareau, to produce the very first iteration of the Kick-Hi. The design language of that first nubuck boot, informed by the stitching and red tabs frequently spotted on denim slacks, was distinct. To say the least.
But it was the distinct appearance of the Kick-Hi that would catapult them to the fore…
Wearing Kick Hi in the ’70s was a statement, just like it is now. This wasn’t a boot worn by those who shied away from adversity, but instead, those who confronted it. Those who wanted to stand out. And wanted to make it known that they weren’t happy with the status quo.
For all of those reasons, the Kick Hi was forever sported by the coolest person in the room – that fella with a collection of records no one has heard of. The guy with a new pair of Italian jeans each week. The girl who always hosts the afterparty.
See, ever since their conception, the Kick Hi has always had a deep entanglement with music. They’ve danced through every era of British youth culture without changing step. You’d see them on the feet of acid house enthusiasts, indie kids, punks, and mods. David Bowie wore them on Diamond Dogs. Liam Gallagher wore them like they were uniform, Ian Brown probably still owns the ones he’s had since ‘89, and Mike Skinner’s pair are definitely still hungover.
The Kick Hi wasn’t created to make a statement, but they became one anyway.
While Kickers has flirted with many different types of sound, there’s only one location that the brand is truly & madly in love with – Manchester.
Maybe it’s because the Kick Hi is as stubborn as the city’s locals, but it’s here in Manchester, where the weather’s constantly sideways and the music’s always blaring, where the boot makes the most sense. Built to take a kicking, but made to stand out. You could down ten pints of Plum Porter at Peveril of the Peak, stomp all night long in Soup, and still wear them to Sunday roast the next day. They’re boots for living in, not just looking at.
Walk down any street long enough and you’ll spot them. On a lad heading to the pub, on a teenage girl stood outside a gig, on a DJ unloading a milk crate of records into the back of a van. They’re part of the fabric of the city, the same way the red bricks and concrete bus stops are.
We’re not just saying this either, we actually had the pleasure of photographing the mighty Kick Hi around Manchester the other day, and just as expected, they complemented the Ancoats concrete the same way Tsingtao does a Sichuan Chinese meal. Sublimely.
In many ways, the Kick Hi feels like someone you know – like that person you’re always hoping comes through at a house party – fun, friendly and a proper good time.
So, in a world of constant updates and endless reinvention, the Kick Hi stands as proof that you don’t always need to change to stay relevant. Some things get it right the first time. And in sticking to its guns, now for fifty years, the Kick Hi hasn’t aged out of fashion – it’s transcended it.
To shop the Kick Hi, visit Kickers.
