Tyler The Creator is a longtime fan of Converse and has collaborated with the brand on a number of fascinating releases, including his Golf Le Fleur line. It’s likely his love of the brand stems from his roots as a skater in LA, where the kicks are a symbol of multiple different subcultures — and often, a connector of those cultures, bringing together punks, skaters, and gangbangers over their shared love of the Chuck Taylor All Star shoe.
When the brand tapped Tyler to create a short film (a commercial, really) highlighting this connection, they say they had no idea what they were going to get. Knowing Tyler, though, they were sure it’d be a reflection of his off-the-wall sense of humor and unique worldview and it’s probably safe to say they weren’t disappointed in the result, a minute-long spot titled “The Really Cool Converse Club.”
The hilarious ad depicts a group meeting of various subcultures tied to the shoe full of members of Tyler’s own wildly diverse friend group and Converse’s longtime brand partners like NBA legends Bill Walton and Marques Johnson, stand-up comic Josh Johnson, actor Tim Meadows, rapper Vince Staples, punk icon Henry Rollins, and Odd Future member Jasper. Converse skaters Milton Martinez and Louie Lopez and actors Errol Chatham, Arsenio Castellanos, and Jackson Randall also make appearances.
Tyler explained his vision in a press release: “I instantly thought about the many pockets of people that wear Chucks – like skateboarders, soccer moms, kids down the street, guys in the neighborhood I grew up with – and I wanted to put them in one place, that was important to me. Everyone wears Chucks…including pirates.” I won’t spoil it for you here but I will say The Really Cool Converse Club has some pretty strict rules.
Watch Converse’s Tyler The Creator-directed “The Really Cool Converse Club” ad here.