While most of Alpinestars footwear legacy involves racing, protection, and performance, a deep dive into the archives reveals decades of casual footwear innovation and style.
Since the late 1960s, Alpinestars footwear has stood atop motorsports podiums and protected athletes around the world. From bold beginnings as an Italian athletic boot brand to inventing the motocross boot, Alpinestars legacy is steeped in protection and performance. However, a deeper dive into catalogs of the past 50 years unearths a separate chapter of the Alpinestars footwear legacy. One that conveys many decade’s worth of style and design.
Over the years, Alpinestars produced a number of casual athletic sneakers. The first emerged in the late eighties in the form of a traditional jogging shoe that utilized cutting-edge technology of the time. Nylon uppers, supple suede, and multiple-density rubber soles were utilized for performance, but also reflect the aesthetic of cutting-edge 80’s style.
The 90s saw color palettes, construction, and materials that were very much of the era, but also ahead of their time. The Hidalgo and 114 Trainer models were cross-trainers that would rival any shoe on the shelf then, and today. As Alpinestars expanded deeper into California culture and lifestyle around this time, a skate shoe was even offered in the 1997 catalog.
For decades, various models also bridged the form and function divide with casual riding shoes. These shoes were by no means as protective or performance-oriented as Alpinestars technical riding boots but were designed and built to be intermediary shoes between casual applications, and a 2-wheeled lifestyle. The most notable casual riding shoe was the Shibuya model which was released in various iterations in the late 2000s.
More recently, Alpinestars’ athletic footwear has also become a component of multiple MotoGP and Formula 1 team uniforms. As a technical partner to many teams, Alpinestars outfits not only the athletes, but also the dozens of team members who support the athletes. Many of those team members rock Alpinestars sneakers.
While the RSRV project continues to explore Alpinestars' history and legacy, it is always educational to unearth the aesthetic ambitions of our past. Digging deeper into the archives continues to reveal more and more inspiration that might inform the next RSRV capsule or collection.
