Converse x BT21

BT21 announced their collaboration with Converse two weeks ago, and I was beyond stoked. Converse has been my go-to sneaker brand for nearly 20 years now, and I pretty much wore them exclusively from middle school all the way into university. I wear them a lot less now, of course, because I'm usually in ankle boots for work, but as I just threw out 8 or 9 really old pairs of Converse a few months ago (some of them had full-blown rips on the sides, and others had mud stains from wearing them at outdoor concerts, so I'm not sure why I even kept them), I'd been meaning to get myself some new ones. So this collaboration — a collection of three different Chuck Taylor All Star designs, two low tops and one high top — was really just a happy coincidence since collecting BT21 has become a sickness hobby of mine. But as I was looking up the release date for them, I found out that this collection is exclusive to Line Friends stores in Asia only. So I immediately DM'd my BT21 merch guy in Seoul (he's really become my merch guy for all things BTS because he's extremely reliable, very efficient, and always goes the extra mile).

Because nothing was going to stop me from getting in on this.
Converse x BT21 Black/Black Chuck Taylor All Star Low Top
Converse x BT21 Multi/White Chuck Taylor All Star Low Top
Converse x BT21 Black/White Chuck Taylor All Star High Top
Converse x BT21 Embroidery Patch Pins and Multi Laces
My merch guy messaged me back saying he could get some for me, but that he'd charge me $115 USD each plus shipping. Seeing as the most expensive pair (the high tops) were going for ₩99,000 (about $88 USD or $114 CAD), I told him I'd buy all three pairs from him if he could obtain them. So he messaged me back to confirm the shoe size I wanted, and said he'd be in touch. On July 27, the day the collection launched, he messaged me with a photo of the boxes of shoes in BT21 bags, and a caption saying, "Got your Converse today." (Almost sounds like a drug deal, doesn't it...?) So I paid him as soon as he sent the invoice, and he shipped them out the next day. I'm telling you, this dude is the most reliable merch seller I have ever come across (I found him on eBay, actually, with a 100% selling rate for 14 years, so I knew he was legit — but he's been my go-to seller since he waited in line for four hours at the Line Friends store in Seoul for me back in January just to get me the exact BT21 merch I wanted). The shoes actually arrived from Seoul on Friday, but I wasn't at home to sign for them and didn't have any time to go to the post office this weekend, so I had to wait until today to pick them up.

I am incredibly happy with these sneakers, and they're actually even nicer than I expected. They come in these adorable sliding special edition collector's boxes; each pair of sneakers comes wrapped in a black BT21 canvas tote bag, with a little plastic zip bag on the side that includes eight embroidery patch pins (one for each BT21 character) and two sets of laces in different colours (the high-tops come with three sets). So. Fucking. Cute. These were sold out at all locations (including the official online stores) within the first day of launch and are going for $250+ on eBay right now, so you know, I think I got a pretty good deal.