Kawasaki Footwear | Eco Comeback

Now begins the story of a Communist training shoe with a Japanese name, produced in Czech Republic, discovered and marketed by Danish badminton players. Admittedly, if this was not the truth, it would surely be one of the best marketing ideas of the last few years. But hiding behind Kawasaki Footwear is a whole series of curiosities and, let’s say, country-specific features. For on the search for the perfect shoe for badminton crazy Denmark, the owners of the company J.Hammersgaad Hansen Sport discovered the work of the communist, Czech training shoe association at the ISPO 1972 sports trade fair and were impressed by the light shoe with the necessary “grip.”

So from then on, what caused a stir in Scandinavia and was soon an essential part of every Danish disco girl’s wardrobe was produced in the Czech factories of the old shoe brand Bata. With the opening of the Iron Curtain there were however production problems and the brand was temporarily put on ice. Now, almost 20 years later, with a new production facility in the Czech Republic, but old, experienced workers and in the tradition of the old manufacturing, they are back again. Therefore still today the Kawasaki Sneakers, unlike with other sneaker manufacturers, are not cold-vulcanised, or stuck together, but melted together in a hot state, whereby only natural materials such as cotton, suede and rubber and no synthetic materials at all can be processed. Truly a sensible revival.

www.kawasaki-footwear.com

Text > Nicole Urbschat

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