Underground, a British brand inspired by subcultures since 1981.
Having recently come into contact with the charm of subcultures and being very interested in fashion from a historical point of view as well as how it interfaces with the social that surrounds it, I decided to write about something that combined these aspects.
However, the enlightenment came when I decided to go in search of a pair of shoes that I always wanted, the Creeper. So I will tell you about this brand that has a great importance in the English subcultural scene. Underground.
In 2011 the Underground Creeper became popular thanks to famous people such as Rihanna and Johnny Depp; at that moment who would not have wanted them ?!
In reality, behind these shoes there is a very long history that began in Manchester in 1981, a city in the north of England, at the time desolate and poor.
So let's rewind the tape and tell each other things in more or less chronological order.
We are in 1981, as we have already said, in an English town hit by industrial decline; what, however, from the beginning, differentiates Manchester is, certainly, the abundance of coexisting subcultures, let's talk about Punk, Post Punk, Gothic, New Romantics, Football Casuals and the remains of the Northern Soulers, is in this soup of musical ideologies and policies that a small shop is born, in the heart of the city, whose founder is called Alan Bukvic.
Shunned by big brands because it is small and unorthodox, that shop, for resale, opens up to an unconventional and Punk approach. At this point, the research moves to Germany and Italy with the intention of importing something that was not very present in England, we are talking about Adidas, the three-stripe shoe.
The purchase of Adidas became fundamental for Underground, among whose key customers we find, at the time, the Football Casuals of Manchester; Plus, city icons like the Gallaghers, from Oasis, or Shaun Ryder from Happy Mondays were regulars.
From here you can already feel the strong bond that the brand has with British music; it is no coincidence that it will be built on the local musical cultures that surround it, up to the creation of a line of footwear designed to reproduce musical waves, this line dated 2014 will take the name of Soundwave.
However, the various subcultures that coexist do not find someone to take care of their style, so it is Undergound that makes its way into this world, dealing with outsider clothing and footwear.
Moving from one subculture to another, taking inspiration from British and youth music, the brand collects Monkey Boot, the store's first best seller and cornerstone of youth cultures; then passing from the corduroy shoes, loved by Casuals to the Underground version of the Destert Boots. To ensure quality, the production is moved to Lancashire and at the same time the first Underground signed shoe begins its production.
But that's not all, the store also switches to the purchase of knitwear, in particular, focusing on what was the classic crew neck, which is starting to make a sensation on the bleachers of UK stadiums.
These were years of training for the shop, product selection and style choices.
We are in 1987 and the London market is pressing for the creation of an official collection; and here it is the first collection known as Originals, inspired by punk strength and ferocity.
The line became a cornerstone, in the 80s, for groups such as New Romantics, Goths and New Waves.
We see a strong return of Creeper footwear that came straight from the 50s, which hardly anyone wanted to produce anymore. There are also Steel Cap boots, a typical workman's shoe, reinterpreted with new colors, materials and silhouettes, with 8 or 10 holes or more extreme like those with 20 or 30 holes.
Winklepicker boots with 4 or 6 buckles, as fundamental for the Goths culture as the Creeper for the Meteor and the Tramm Trab for the Football Casuals.
1988 is the year in which Underground offers steel toe boots, we are in the period in which Punk gives way to Grunge and the brand sees an expansion and a global following.
The reappearance of Psychobilly takes the Creeper, in 1990, to the next step, the culture sees the fusion of rockabilly with the lurid and the ironic. Years in which the Steel Cap boot becomes the must-have of outsiders, with a pronounced toe in steel, rubber and three-row puritan stitch.
After returning to the top 1993 brands in Japan in 5, Underground moved the store to Carnaby Street, a neighborhood that sees a strong outsider culture, ready to welcome such a rebellious and innovative store.
The 2000s are the androgynous years, in which the brand appears on the catwalks of Gaultier, Lagerfeld and many others, years of collaborations with Lee Jeans and Lewis Leather; at this point the shoes are enriched with zips and studs, while the Creeper opens to become a sandal.
In 2011, after the return to the limelight of the Creepers, the brand collaborated with labels such as Mugler, Ashish and Casette Playa.
The shop is once again moved to Berwick Street, an almost forgotten stretch of Soho but the core of British music.
In 2014 the Soundwave collection was released which adds a more contemporary touch to the style of the brand, still strongly linked to its origins.
On the other hand, the Half Moon collection is from 2019, a reinterpretation of the brand's first steps with a new design, a line totally made in the UK, with the idea of supporting local independent companies, especially family-run ones, and a vegan line.
Given the fragmentation and change of subcultures over time, Underground, in this wake, approaches a new ideology, the fight against the distinctive codes of gender, race and culture. The brand also supports independent local bands and labels, continuing to keep the link with British musical genres alive.
As true, unorthodox punks, they march at their own pace.
For all subcultures, for all outsiders, for all undergrounds.
