The Covid-19 pandemic is grieving many families around the world. The sneaker community has also been affected by the loss of a sneaker lover. John, the administrator and founder of the Facebook group « KangaROOS Talk » sadly passed away from this virus on April 14, 2020 at the age of 34. In order to pay him a last tribute and to honour his memory, KangaROOS and its German factory have decided to design a pair dedicated to him, the Coil R1 John’s ROOS.
Interaction with John’s wife and his Facebook community allowed the KangaROOS teams to define on which model this project would be based. The choice fell on John’s favourite silhouette, the KangaROOS Coil R1. He liked soft, sober and efficient colorways with bold colour details, so it’s in these shades that the pair is dressed.
The shoe « Made In Germany » consists of a perforated vegetable-tanned cowhide leather upper of the highest quality in light grey colour. We find overlays in a slightly more pronounced shade of smooth leather. The KangaROOS logo, the suede and leather inner lining, and the leather tongue branding paying homage to John, appear in camel colour. A nice touch of audacity is brought by the aqua colour of the insole and the 2 sets of laces (1 of which is two-tone white and blue). To complete the tribute, a detail refers to another of John’s passions, dogs. One day, his pet chewed up one of his KangaROOS pairs, the paws embossed on the heel are a nod to this touching anecdote. Also, the text written in black on the insole « Whatever you do, take care of your shoes » corresponds to the tattoo John had around his ankle. Following the KangaROOS tradition, this beautiful pair has a secret leather pocket hidden at the tongue. The whole is based on a white Dynacoil midsole and an outsole in Phylon and TP rubber.
This Coil R1 John’s ROOS was originally intended to be produced in only 35 copies, 1 for his wife and 34 others to symbolize the 34 years of life of the late John. KangaROOS has announced that 100% of the proceeds from these 34 sales will be donated to John’s family. In view of the demand generated by this project, the German factory will design 400 more pairs, numbered and with 10% of the sales also going to John’s relatives.
The limited edition tribute shoe can be pre-ordered until September 30, 2020 on www.hummelundhummel.de/collections/alle-produkte/products/coil-r-1-john-s-roos
After this date, the pairs will be shipped within 4 months.
The price of this Coil R1 John’s ROOS is set at 290€. A special code is for John’s FB group members. It allows a 30% discount on the order.
We salute the beautiful approach of the KangaROOS brand. Our thoughts are with John’s family and community.
