From The Straits Times    |

Photo: Bata Heritage

 

You are likely familiar with Bata, but probably not with its cooler-in-a-retro-way sibling Bata Heritage, so here’s a quick debrief: Bata was first founded in 1894 by one Tomas Bata in a village in Zlin, in what is today’s Czech Republic. The brand’s extensive history coupled with Bata’s propensity to constantly develop better shoe-making techniques meant that the brand has built a vast archive over the years, with more than a few heritage designs that are well-loved across many countries. Bata Heritage was therefore launched on the brand’s 120th anniversary in 2014 to showcase those very designs, which include the iconic Bata Bullets, Bata Tennis,and Bata Hotshots.

 

Back to the present – for its Spring/Summer collection this year, Bata Heritage has teamed up with Star Wars for a five-style capsule collection featuring iconic Star Wars characters on the Bata Bullets and Tennis.

 

Photo: Bata Heritage

 

The Bullets ($105 each), first created in 1964 for the Baltimore Bullets basketball team, come in black or white canvas high-tops, with red or blue “Star Wars” rubber patches on the sides, matching piping and eyelets, a lightsaber motif on the back of the sneaker, and are lined with an allover pattern that combines the Light Side and Dark Side of the Force symbols.

 

Photo: Bata Heritage

 

The low-top Tennis ($95 each), manufactured since 1936 and originally made for schoolchildren in India, gets tricolored graphics of Darth Vader, R2D2 and the Storm Trooper. Both Vader and the Trooper’s drawings are available in white, black and grey, while R2D2 comes in a white, blue and grey combination.

 

For the launch of this collab, Bata Heritage will also have its first pop-up event here, where you can try your hand at being a VR Jedi and win Bata Heritage x Star Wars collectables, or simply view and shop the collection. The event will be held at Ion Orchard, B4, from Friday, 4 May to Sunday, 6 May, 11am to 9pm. The collection will also be available online at https://bataheritage.com from 4 May onwards.