"There is a new generation at the helm, and they are ushering in personal memories and testimonies; this enables a rediscovery and resurgence of past models with fresh perspective," says Jimmy Manley, Senior Director Special Projects, Converse. "We were taking Don C through the archives and when we got to the ERX, before we could even get into presenting it he goes, 'I remember that shoe, this is the shoe!' It spiraled into this rally cry to bring it back."

The Chicago-born designer recalled the shoe's championship pedigree — it capped a decade in which Converse athletes defined title-winning. More than that, Don C was reminded of the cross-cultural adoption it enjoyed. "I remembered the ERX model because it had so many layers in the past,” he says. “That makes me proud, because I love when basketball becomes part of another arena.”