Hasta La Ideas

Three new colorways and two new leather treatments in Cole Haan’s debut collaboration with Hiroshi Fujiwara

As ColeHaan continues to rewrite the book on comfortable formal footwear with the LunarGrand, we’re excited to see today’s anouncement of the Fragment Design collaboration. Building off the original suede wingtip and leather chukka, Fragment’s Hiroshi Fujiwara—of Nike HTM fame—introduces three additional colorways in two new leather treatments, each embossed with the Fragment Design logo.

Presented in Fragment Design’s trademarked black upper with white outsole, the Scotch grain leather wingtip and chukka feature a distinct pebble grain texture to set the benchmark for subtle sophistication. Conversely, the black, putty and neon pink colorway takes a bolder, more forward-thinking approach. Inspired by Fujiwara’s desire to design a saddle shoe, the shoe is constructed of rich corrected-grain leather—buffed to reveal a uniform surface—with waterproof coating. As a solution to his design temptations, Fujiwara cleverly integrated the contrast coloring into the readily available wingtip silhouette for a contemporary take on the iconic spectator shoe.

For the final colorway of the collaboration Fujiwara presents an additional corrected-grain leather LunarGrand wingtip, this time in a putty-colored upper with a blue sole. Although the bright soles of the LunarGrands seem to push the brogues towards a more playful position, the traditionally welted soles remind the wearer—and anyone with a discerning eye—of the classic craftsmanship that goes into each pair.

The Cole Haan & Fragment Design LunarGrand wingtip and chukka will officially launch in store at Cole Haan SoHo on Friday, 13 July 2012. The Chukka will sell for $328 while the wingtips will be available for $298. For a more full look at the Hiroshi Fujiwara designed LunarGrands see the slideshow.

Detail images by Graham Hiemstra

Innovation meets old-world style in Cole Haan’s unconventional take on the dress shoe

Jumping ahead of the current trends in men’s footwear, Cole Haan‘s LunarGrand wingtip is a classically designed full brogue dress shoe updated with an ergonomic outsole for unmatched comfort. Launching 10 February 2012, the LunarGrand has been “engineered to conquer the streets of New York City” by combining a classic design from one of the most recognizable names in formal footwear with innovative Lunarlon outsole from their parent company—Nike.

While we love the striking design of a contrasting outsole, in the LunarGrand’s case it also serves a distinct purpose. The ultra-lightweight Lunarlon increases flex, movement and wearability—making the LunarGrand a great looking, super comfortable dress shoe alternative. I walked the show floor of CES for three days straight to test the LunarGrands and became an instant fan—never before have my feet felt so good at that beast of a trade show.

This marriage of a classic design aesthetic and contemporary tech was created with the nomadic city dwelling man in mind. Cole Haan’s VP of Design Phil Russo explains “the goal of the design process was to create a wingtip to take on the streets of New York City—a shoe that utilized motion-enhancing innovations at the same time as retaining its authentic and timeless aesthetic.”

Because of their lightweight design and superior comfort we see the LunarGrand as the ideal travel shoe, as it looks just as good dressed up or down. And this is no coincidence, as Russo goes on to explain that the shoe concept came about from understanding “what people are doing in their shoes today, their expectations of style and demands of functionality,” pushing Russo and his design team to “create products that really do make a difference as people go about their everyday lives.”

For the time being the LunarGrand wingtip will be available exclusively at the Cole Haan SoHo store starting Friday, 10 February. All five colorways will be on hand retailing for $248.