Side profileStatutory notation
Parte superior: couro · Forro e palmilha: têxtil · Sola: outros materiais
Upper: leather · Lining and insock: textile · Outsole: other materials
E-04 — Line E — vulcanised
Retro Tennis
The slim court outline from the 1970s on a flat 18 mm vulcanised sole. Again: an outline, not equipment.
$158USD, one-off purchase
Material label — Directive 94/11/EC
| Componente | Material |
|---|---|
| parte superiorupper | couroleatherFull-grain calf leather, 1.3 mm |
| forro e palmilhalining and insock | têxtiltextileUnbleached cotton drill lining, cotton-faced foam insock |
| solaoutsole | outros materiaisother materialsVulcanised natural rubber, cured onto the upper |
Declared class is the material making up at least 80% of that component. What each class covers
Cannot be re-soled
The rubber sole is cured onto the upper under heat. The join is permanent: removing the sole destroys the bottom of the upper. When the tread is worn through, the pair has reached the end of its life. What that means for the guarantee
Three things this pair will do
- Yellowing amarelecimento
- White leather and the white rubber under it both turn warmer over time, and ultraviolet light speeds it up. Keeping the pair out of long direct sun and drying it in the shade rather than on a radiator slows the change down. It does not stop it. We do not sell these as shoes that stay the same white.
- Creasing vincos
- The vamp folds where your foot folds. Creases appear across the forefoot inside the first few wears and deepen from there. That is what the structure does, not a defect, and the softer the leather the sooner they show. A pair with no creases is a pair nobody has walked in.
- Cleaning limits limites de limpeza
- Dust, dry scuffs, street grime and most water-based marks come off the leather and off the midsole. Oil, grease, and dye lifted from dark denim or a dark car seat sink into the surface and usually do not come out completely, even with the right product.
Adding does not open the cart. The count in the header goes up by one.
- Free standard shipping over $129. Below that it is $12. Delivery windows
- 14 days to withdraw without giving a reason. Try them indoors on carpet. Livre resolução
- 3-year legal guarantee of conformity under Portuguese law. Garantia
- Livro de Reclamações Eletrónico
Specification
Everything we measured.
Figures are taken from a size EU 42 unless a range is given, and they are the same figures we hold in production.
Build
- 01
- Slim last, flat 18 mm sole with a fine herringbone tread.
- 02
- White leather upper with a perforated toe vent.
- 03
- No court performance claim is made, and the tread is chosen for how it wears on pavement.
Dimensions
- Sole thickness, forefoot
- 18 mm
- Sole thickness, heel
- 22 mm
- Last
- Standard
- Forefoot width, EU 42
- 98 mm
- Construction
- vulcanised
- Re-soleable
- No — the join is permanent
- Country of manufacture
- Country of manufacture is printed on the box and on the sewn-in label inside each pair.
Chemical compliance
- Chromium VI in leather
- ≤ 3 mg/kg
- Azo dyes
- Within REACH Annex XVII limits
- Nickel release, metal eyelets
- Within REACH Annex XVII limits
Measured size table
| EU | Foot length | Forefoot width |
|---|---|---|
| 36 | 22.7 cm | 88.4 mm |
| 37 | 23.4 cm | 90.0 mm |
| 38 | 24.0 cm | 91.6 mm |
| 39 | 24.7 cm | 93.2 mm |
| 40 | 25.3 cm | 94.8 mm |
| 41 | 26.0 cm | 96.4 mm |
| 42 | 26.7 cm | 98.0 mm |
| 43 | 27.3 cm | 99.6 mm |
| 44 | 28.0 cm | 101.2 mm |
| 45 | 28.7 cm | 102.8 mm |
| 46 | 29.3 cm | 104.4 mm |
Standard last. If this measures narrow for you, the wide-fit models add about 7 mm across the ball.
How this pair is cleaned, and what will not come out.
Smooth and coated leather
- 01Take the laces out. They hold most of the dirt and they wash separately.
- 02Brush loose dust off dry with a soft brush before any water touches the shoe.
- 03Work a pH-neutral foam over the panel with a damp cloth, in circles, one panel at a time.
- 04Wipe the foam off with a second cloth, clean and barely damp. Do not let it dry on the leather.
- 05Stuff the shoe with paper and dry it away from radiators and sun, for at least twelve hours.
- 06On uncoated leather, finish with a colourless cream once a month if the surface looks dry.
Comes out
- Dust and dry street dirt
- Dry scuff marks that sit on the surface
- Water-based food marks caught the same day
- Salt tide marks from winter pavements
- Grey transfer from rubbing against a bag or a doorframe
Stays
- Oil and grease, once absorbed — the surface is porous and the oil goes in, not on
- Dye lifted from dark denim or a dark car seat into pale leather
- Ink
- Deep cuts and abrasions through the finish, which can be filled but not undone
- Heat damage from drying on a radiator, which shrinks and hardens the fibre permanently
- Never put these in a washing machine. The drum separates the sole from the upper.
- Never use bleach or a cleaner containing optical brightener. Both accelerate yellowing.
- Never dry them with heat.
- On coated leather, never use a solvent-based cleaner: it lifts the coating along with the mark.
Rubber midsole and outsole
- 01Work a stiff short-bristle brush with foam cleaner along the midsole, not across it.
- 02Run the brush into the join between sole and upper, where the grey collects first.
- 03Wipe the foam off before it dries, or it leaves a tidemark of its own.
- 04For the tread, a brush and plain water is enough. Do not soak the shoe to clean the bottom of it.
Comes out
- Grey street film, which is most of what makes a white midsole look old
- Scuffs from kerbs, mostly
- Marks at the join between sole and upper
Stays
- Yellowing of the rubber itself, which is oxidation through the material rather than dirt on it
- Cuts and gouges in the rubber
- Tar
- Never use acetone or a solvent on rubber: it softens the compound and it attacks the cement at the join.
- Never soak a shoe to clean its sole.
- Never use a whitening product that relies on bleach. It sets the yellow rather than lifting it.
Why the sole is permanent.
A stitched joint can be unpicked and re-made. A bonded one cannot. Both of the constructions we use are bonded, and that is a property of this kind of shoe rather than a shortcut in ours.
What this material actually needs
Matched to the label above rather than to whatever we would like to shift.
Not footwear — composition listed
F-02
Foam cleaner, cloth and a stiff midsole brush. Built for the white uppers and the white rubber under them, which need different things.
Not footwear — composition listed
F-01 · White
Three pairs of flat cotton laces, 120 cm, the same ones fitted to every low-top here.