Trainers embossed with the London Underground map and roundel have been launched today by Mallet London – a shoe company founded by the reality TV personality, Tommy Mallet.
Both the black and white colour options feature the schematic illustration of the network, the black in reflective silver, and the white coming in a tonal whiteout upper. Each pair of shoes comes with Mallet and TfL branded keychains, embossed collaborative heels and a lace shroud that doubles as a cardholder.
The sole of the shoes also includes the tube roundel pattern.
The trainers are on sale at the Mallet London website for £210 a pair.
Ellen Sankey, Brand Licensing Manager at TfL, says: “Seeing how Mallet, a proud London-born brand, is using our iconic Tube map in their designs, shows how innovatively our heritage and assets can be used to give consumers a new way to represent this wonderful city.
“This year we are celebrating both the 90th anniversary of the map and the 160th anniversary of the opening of the Tube, and it’s in designs like these trainers that we can see how the Tube is an essential part of life in London.”
I thought these looked uncharacteristically sober and lacking in colour – before realising that I was thinking of 80s/90s TV icon Timmy Mallett, rather than Tommy Mallet.
That’s funny – decades ago I read a piece on TfL’s anti-fraud/counterfeiting team that featured trainers with an (unlicensed) design for the sole featuring the roundel. It noted the idea was so good they would have got permission if they’d asked!
What’s a lace shroud and what does it cover? The shoe?
If only there was some way to look at more pictures of the shoes and figure it out…