An acronym for Birth of The Teenager, Japanese label BoTT was founded in 2019 by TEITO producing apparel with a lean towards vintage Americana, a space Converse cemented its legacy in. The two brands whether they knew it themselves or not, have always revolved in each other’s orbit and a collision course is both inevitable, and apt. With that said, through this shared trajectory comes an old but not tired, a vintage yet novel—take on some of Converse’s skate silhouettes: the CX-PRO SK HI and the Deckstar SK.

The first sees navy engulf the suede body of the hightop. Mixed with canvas at the rear, a gleaming star graphic lines the shoe on the heel cap, wherein adjacent is a tag with BoTT’s branding. Dirty white adds dynamism to its aesthetic through its presence on the toebox running up through the tongue. At its end, on the tag comes Converse Skateboarding’s logo.

Some highlights worth nothing are the D-rings at the uppermost eyestays that substitute the standard loops. Although white seems to be the default, dotted navy laces are offered as an alternate.

Taking a similar cue, the Deckstar SK features a uniform colorway as well. Brown forms the make of the nubuck leather upper, complemented by tonal square laces. Much like its counterpart, it comes with alternate laces as well with the patterned round chord. Its built atop the specifications of Converse’s archival Deckstar Elite, resembling a contemporary moccasin.

It’s simplicity is its asset with branding working in tandem, as opposed to against, the singular colorway of the pair. These elements come by way of the navy BoTT lateral quarter tag, and the debosed One Star on the quarter.

The two pairs arrived on 24 March with the taller CX-Pro SK going for JPY17,000 (~US$130) and the Deckstar SK for JPY22,000 (~US$170). Find them on atmos and Converse’s website, if your interest was piqued.

Elsewhere, have a look at Brazilian jiu-jitsu brand Albino & Preto’s Nike SB Dunk Low.