Footwear

Diadora and END. Celebrate Milan with V7000 Release

The slow, crawling procession of progress surrounding END. Clothing continued earlier this year with the opening of their Milan store. It’s some distance from their roots but their growth at a time when other retailers have found it tough is nice to see.

While they have never fully nailed themselves to their home city of Newcastle, they’re not shy of respecting the locations in which their new stores are located. We know this ourselves, as they released a limited edition Hikerdelic collaboration when their Manchester store opened its doors, while over in Italy they’ve worked with Italian institution Diadora.

The shoe that celebrates this union is the V7000, a sneaker which they say retains all of its original DNA, made in Italy with plush suede uppers and the love and care that can only come from a brand that has been doing this for decades. The natural colour scheme was inspired by Italy’s famous flag, with green, red and a creamy white used throughout the shoe. Nods to the ethos of the project feature via END’s logo on one heel tab, while Milano features on the other.

It’s a gorgeous shoe that speaks to us, in both Geordie and Italian, much like that episode of Auf Wiedersehen Pet when Oz met his son’s Italian stepfather for the first time. Only on Proper would you get such an obscure reference.

Mark Smith

I had pizza for tea.

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