Newest fan: John Legend

So it looks like the Vanquish has another new fan, one whom I happen to be quite a big fan of: Mr. John Legend.  He’s been touring through New Orleans, Florida and Georgia and it looks like everywhere he goes, he’s wearing JUMP!

John Legend preforms during the 2009 Essence Music Festival at the Louisiana Superdome on July 3, 2009 in New Orleans. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images).  He’s wearing the Vanquish in Black Super Luxe Soft Nappa.

John Legend performs in concert at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Florida on July 9, 2009. (UPI Photo/Michael Bush) Photo via Newscom.  He’s wearing the Vanquish in Black Silver Kid Crystal.

July 5, 2009 – Atlanta, GA – Grammy Winner John Legend performed at Chastain Park. Photo Credit: Dan Harr/AdMedia.  He’s wearing the Vanquish in Grey Super Luxe Soft Nappa.

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Vanquish for women! And two new men’s colors.

I know I promised a few weeks back that we’d have the Vanquish for women and today we are making good on it in a very limited test run of women’s 7s at the SoHo store.  We’ll have more sizes soon!  I actually want some of these for men!  I had our girls try them on and they say they are just as comfortable as the men’s ones.

Here are the colorful and incredibly soft nappas that made the Vanquish a hit in the 80s under the Travel Fox label.

I want the red and purple!

And of course the Black/Silver Kid Crystal and Green/Purple Reflex Patent.

These just came in for the men’s.  Super soft Tan and White.

I heart the VANQUISH.

I’m obviously a JUMP marketer and I almost only wear JUMP exclusively, with the exception of my Y-3s, Visvim and Double Identitys, but without any bit of being an Al Bundy shoe salesman, I have to say that the Vanquish, in all honesty, is quite frankly one of the most comfortable pair of sneakers I’ve ever worn.  In fact, whenever I’m at the store, I have people try it on purely for the satisfaction of seeing the reaction on their faces after they put it on!  It’s a construction that’s been proven in the 80s and since we’ve adjusted our toespring, it’s made all the difference.  So here’s some commentary on the pairs I own.  Hehe.

I own the Ivis Patent in Grey.

We’ve done pearlized patent before, but this one actually is different in that instead of having that automobile finish sort of sparkle, it’s more flat but with very inlaid hues of green and pink.  For the longest time I’ve been on a grey kick.  I love anything grey, and I’m still not sure why.  So when I got this sample back, I knew it was going to be one of the first ones I’d wear.  The material was actually almost impossible to find but in the end, we made it happen.

I also own the Grey Nappa.

Harry had told me what sold in the 80s was the really soft nappa leathers that we used.  Having introduced JUMP SNEAKER DELUXE in all patents, this is the first model where we strayed from that initial statement.  When I first got this sample and felt it, it felt like nothing I’d ever felt before.  It literally felt like butter.  So when I put it on, it was like wearing a slipper.  I really could not believe how soft it was and really, why other shoe brands hadn’t used anything like this before? We’ll be bringing in a host of other colors in the nappa very soon.  I’ll keep you posted!

But beyond the materials, there’s something about the construction that makes it really wearable shoe.  In some regards it’s quite basic as a laceup, basketball looking high top but it’s the devil in the details that make it interesting.  The wideset laces, the straight-aligned perfs, the height, the padded tongue and the padding around the collar.  We’ve also priced it at $188 to make it more accessible.  I’d urge anyone to, at the very least, try on this shoe.  I hope this didn’t read as one big marketing message.  I guess it’s tough for the sales/marketing guy to review his own product and sound objective.  Ha!