Shanghai-born, LA-based designer Yixi Chen and her progressive label C2H4 have presented its first foray into footwear, debuting the Quark and Atom for Fall/Winter 2020.
As previously touched on in C2H4’s FW20 collection, the Quark and Atom are built on top of Vibram models meaning they are chunky, functional, and hard-wearing.
The Quark is a low-top sneaker that’s indebted to an early ’00s skateboarding sneaker aesthetic, which is achieved thanks to its bulbous and curvaceous dimensions. And while at first the pair might seem minimal — with its combination of mesh and suede panels meeting together neatly — branding does appear when the sneaker is under lighting, thanks to 3M tooling on the lateral mid-panel.
Elsewhere, you’ll spot a semi-concealed lace system, 3M piping on the mid-panel and around the top of the tongue, and “C” branding on the suede tongue tab. The Atom is relatively similar despite it being a sneaker-boot hybrid, also sporting the same array of 3M details on its suede and mesh-mix upper.
Rope laces wrap around the heel of the Atom, which gives the shoe a military feel. A lugged Vibram sole unit will also provide it with plenty of grip for when you take the Atom somewhere other than the street.
Take a look at C2H4’s Quark and Atom sneakers above, and pick up both pairs now from retailers such as UJNG. The Quark is priced at £290 GBP (approx.$385 USD) while the Atom costs £330 GBP (approx. $437 USD).
In case you missed it, check out how the likes of UJNG and XU are changing London’s fashion scene with emerging South Korean designers.
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