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The Converse SICKS mark the first time we've been impressed by a Converse performance piece in a while. Raised on All Stars for skating, but wearing CONS and Energy Wave pieces as a more affordable and easily attainable alternative to the costly Nike innovations of the time, the technical output from Converse has a very special place in our hearts. On European shore as the very least, we only got glimpses in 'Slam' of some interesting designs in the last decade or so. Run 'N Slams (remember when they were Run N' Gun?), Aerojams and Pandemoniums with the REACT Juice flowing. Rodman's All Star 91s were just weird, but the All Star 2000 from 1996 remains a solid update, especially given how sacred the source material is.

It took balls to attempt a late '90s redux of what's arguably the greatest sneaker of all time, and it took balls to sell us some kind of energy empowered liquid in a sole unit. We'll get the balls-related humour out the way right here. We saw Balls technology implemented on last year's Weapon Evo, but when we saw a shot of the SICKS on Nike Talk a while back, we were smitten.

Evo seems to be the evolutionary jump-off for some interesting brand developments. Even the apparel seems on point, as the new wave of Converse channels a mix of outdoor basketball tradition, hardcore heritage and new developments. Getting office iTunes favourites, Jim Jones and Pill involved in the Band of Ballers (extra significant for the Jones-Giles reunion) event was a strong move too. SICKS live up to the name. This is an intimidating creation with some cues from personal favourites, the full-length...umm...Balls, give it some visual oomph too, and the star chevron is present and correct. Definitely a strong design.

We caught up with Converse's Basketball General Manager, Ric Wilson at the New York launch for a quick conversation about the new shoes, the benefits of Nike ownership and the relevance of retro styling...

There's a sense that Converse performance basketball is "back" with this launch...In Europe pieces were huge until the early '90s, but then they seem to dry up.

I've been at Converse now for 8 years. When I first came to Converse, Nike did not own the company, so Converse were their own company. About 2 years in, Nike bought the company. With Nike owning the company, something that you have to be understanding of is that you're creative to their brand and part of the portfolio.

So our product directions relative to what you see here and probably from the past 5-6 years are ones that make sense not just to Converse, but to the overall key strategy. So often there's times when an idea may feel like it's good, it may feel like it's the right idea, but sometimes we haven't executed it at that instant because it doesn't make the most sense for Nike. So these products, like the All-Star Evo, obviously pull forth from the heritage. Last fall we were going to launch a campaign on the Weapon Evo. The Weapon dates back to the '80s with Magic and Larry.

It's a classic shoe.

Exactly. So we added Converse Balls technology in that product. Many of the shoes we have, they answer or check the box with lifestyle. It fits there. Then what we've done is add some of today's technologies in these products to make them comparable and performance enough to play on the court.

The spirit seems similar to the All Star 2000. That was an underrated design.

What we've done now, in addition to our performance line, those shoes that the likes of Larry Johnson wore will be brought back too in different versions with different colour blocking. It makes sense for Converse basketball heritage. Those products that you mentioned still live in our Converse family, but right now the immediacy is that we're relevant in performance.

Are you tempted to add Nike technology to Converse shoes?

I would say sure, the temptation's there. Many kids don't know that Nike owns Converse. They have a lot of success with what they do, and selfishly we might want to take design cues from them, but again, it doesn't make sense as a brand. So rather than have done that, we've become closer to the resources. When I speak to resources we're speaking to the factories or via the development part of it. So that helps us a great deal.

We have an outstanding and still-growing design team that ensures our products are aesthetically pleasing and that kids like them when they see them on shelves. But the bigger part is that I like the fact they own the company because it gives me a scope and an open window. Being associated with a company like Nike, Inc. half your battle's done. I don't thing you'll ever see an Air bag per se following Nike's direction in a Converse product.

What's the story with Balls technology?

We launched a shoe in 2003 with the ICON and then the Loaded Weapon. That featured ICON technology which is a technology that we've pulled forward and redefined. think about a ball— the responsive technology of that ball is what the product is.

How important is referencing the past?

We weren't in a very clear basketball space a year ago. But as we were attempting to reposition basketball, we found the easiest way to do it is to evoke emotion and strike emotion in the consumer. The Weapon was probably the best product in our brand with the exception of maybe the Pro Leather that would give us that opportunity. So the easiest way to do it was to bring that product forward with a bit of today's technology so we could get it on court. I mean, with that star chevron—we'd been using the star circle on our products but we weren't having the success we anticipated with those products—we went back to a logo that was integral to the company and that was true.

Products going forward won't have the design cues that immediately put retro in your mind. But right now, just to make sure kids know where we're going with our brand, that was the best opportunity to give that communication.

Converse SICKS Q&A image