Fashion Brief
J2K is a grime MC from east London and member of Roll Deep. He’s also Jason Black, sneakerhead (he owns around 500 pairs of trainers) and creator of a very effective superhydrophobic shoe protection spray called ‘Crep Protect’, which is fortunate as most of his 500 trainers are white. “White just eclipses every other trainer colour,” he reasons. “They’re least hassle and you can wear whatever colour you want with them.” He’s also a stickler for keeping them clean: “When I was younger, if they had a crease or a mark, I’d be like: I’m done with them. But obviously, if you’re low on money, that’s not always the best attitude to have.” Seeing as white trainers look set to continue to shape this summer’s shoescape, and money doesn’t grow on trees, here’s his quick guide to keeping your white trainers really, really white.
- First, you need your tools. A hard brush, a soft brush made from something like horse hair, and a microfibre cloth.
- You can use the hard brush on the mid-toe, the bit at the end, as it’s quite tough. If your trainers are suede or nubuck then you’ll need to scrub the upper part with a softer one. If they’re leather, you can use the hard brush all over. One of the worst things about white trainers is when the dye from jeans bleeds on to them. My trick is to Sellotape the bottom of the hem and it usually stops that happening.
- Once you’ve scrubbed the whole trainer, wipe it down with a microfibre cloth.
- Laces are a lot easier. If you take them out, just rinse them with soap and water and go over them with a hairdryer.
- Creases are a lot harder to get out once they are there. I sometimes put reinforced plastic into the toebox so they keep their shape, but I can’t lie, it’s not very comfortable. So when you take them off, try and get a shoehorn into them quickly so they keep their shape. Once they’re clean, or if they are box fresh, spray them with crep protect and keep them in the box. You know, to stop dust depositing or whatever.
