Jawara Alleyne’s custom Converse saved my feet during London Fashion Week

Converse Chucks have always been reliable trainers. If you find yourself in a dark no-phone club, at least one person will be in Converse. It’s simply part of the grimy, sweaty dancefloor ritual – sort of like those nights out that you reference for years to come because you met the love of your life or your bestie. Or, if you wanted to be a little distinctive during your formative years at school, a pair of All Stars earned you ​“cool” kid status. Now, even if you’re not a fashion head, the Chuck Taylor silhouette is all too identifiable as a marker of style exploration – something designer Jawara Alleyne knows more than a little bit about.

Alleyne’s fashion week presentation marked the third act in his ongoing partnership with the trainers brand, bringing a new spin on the Chuck Taylor Lo. The resulting designs – hand painted, jersey-fringed and accessorised with leather ties – are an exuberant update to the perfect party shoes. They’re also a foil to my usual choice of not-so practical footwear. Disclaimer: I have a toxic relationship with high heels, especially during fashion week. I’ve been known to faceplant in front of PRs and tumble onto runways in them, but I simply refuse to cut them out of my life. They’re just too cute.

So, as I rocked up to Jawara Alleyne’s fall 2026 presentation in six-inchers – calves cramping, pinkie toes pinched – I was reminded of why the wise tend to forgo stilettos during LFW. It was only day three, and I had already racked up 44 kilometres dashing from show to show. My body wasn’t built for this.

Hobbling inside the Bethnal Green gallery space, the magical disarray of Alleyne’s latest collection was just enough to take my mind off the pain. This season, the London-based, Jamaican-Caymanian designer was thinking about the future of London’s tested nightlife and how to dress for it. Inspired by that, his signature deconstructed garments – coloured in zingy neons – were splayed around the space, recalling a chicer version of my own clothes-strewn bedroom after prepping for a night out.

The space was jam-packed with Alleyne’s community, from fellow Fashion East grads and artist Rhea Dillon to Off-White’s creative director Ib Kamara, photographer Campbell Addy, and Central Saint Martins’ MA Fashion course leader Fabio Piras. And there, amid the throngs of people, was Alleyne, wearing a pair of sexy gold trousers from this collection. ​“Considering that clubs are closing – places that we usually go out to find community, dress up, explore identity, have fun, where fashion’s actually in practice – I was thinking what the new version of that is gonna be,” he explained.

It was a fitting theme for Alleyne, whose SS26 collection took inspiration from the bittersweet post-party comedown, known as ​“tabanca” in Trinbagonian dialect. That show, much like this presentation, saw Alleyne celebrating his heritage through sensual draping and ebullient colours, all culminating in festively fringed and safety-pinned garments made to dance the night away in.

Here, the Chuck Taylor Lo – well equipped for stomping – was hand-painted, coloured with permanent marker or decorated with scraps of fabric in lieu of traditional laces. I even spied his name written on the bottom corner of one shoe.

The partnership began during Notting Hill Carnival 2025 and evolved last season, for SS26, with high tops ruffed with multicoloured jersey strips. Alleyne grew up wearing the trainers. ​“It was a really accessible shoe for my mum to buy – that was also a branded sneaker,” he explained. ​“And it works for every location. You could wear it to school, you could wear it to church, you could wear it out.”

On my visit, Alleyne was sporting a pair of the Chuck Taylor Lo knotted with leather tassels. ​“This season, I’m thinking a lot about comfort and about practicality in the way you actually dress,” he said of the new silhouette, which prioritises ease of movement. ​“When you’re putting a look together for a night out, the shoes have to be comfortable.”

The lookbook, a static extension of the immersive exhibition, featured the designers’ community and creative circles: editor (and Conner Ives muse) Osman Ahmed lay across piles of material in an asymmetrical dress and a Converse-mule hybrid, while designer Hannah HRH stared into the camera adorned in a royal-blue set held together with safety pins – an Alleyne signature. I also caught movement director, Yagamoto aka Abdourahman Njie in the mix, wearing a spliced top and kaleidoscopically splattered Converse.

As we spoke, Alleyne pointed me to a few pairs in particular. A pair covered in purple fringed jersey peeked out from under a bench. And again, across the room, a pair artfully decorated in electric fuchsia, orange and red paint.

“I have a few pairs of club shoes that are completely disgusting, but they’re so comfortable,” Alleyne told me. ​“They’re just sneakers, but they can take a beating. I can actually dance in them. I was thinking about the scuffs and dirt that lends to the look in a way, especially with[in] the space of British fashion.”

As well-wishers hankered to speak to Alleyne, ever the life of the party, I decided to peruse the space a bit more. I noticed that his fabrications were heavier than past seasons. The wools, gabardines, denims and renewed emphasis on tailoring spoke to looking cool – while staying warm – on a night out. My mind was plagued with ways in which I could somehow score a pair of the taupe suede iterations Alleyne was wandering about the exhibition in. I didn’t take them directly off his feet, reader. But the need to try them on wouldn’t subside, and a pair in my size happened to be lying around. Almost immediately, I could feel the blood flow restoring to my toes and all felt right in the world again.

Ultimately, Alleyne was right, I thought, as I limped out the exhibition and towards a winding day of shows: If you want to enjoy a party, sensible (and cool) footwear is key. This onus on being present is something Alleyne not only values but lives by. It was evidenced by the community that flocked to see him and his warm embraces with them. We could all stand to take a leaf – and some Chucks – out Alleyne’s book.