Gianneli Colours Navy and Yellow High Top Sneakers

Navy, yellow and red worked across the canvas in loose abstract strokes, printed flat and then cut and stitched by hand. The navy is doing the heavy lifting here. A dark ground under bright colour keeps the pair wearable in a way an all-bright print never manages, because the eye reads the shoe as dark first and colourful second.

The Case For A Dark Base

• It buys you versatility. Read as dark first, the shoe slots into outfits that would reject an all-bright print.
• It hides what pale canvas cannot. Dust and light scuffing show immediately on a white ground and disappear on navy, so the pair needs cleaning less often.
• The dye is in the fibre. Sublimation leaves nothing on the surface to lift at the toe crease or along the ankle bend.

Sole, Lining And The Capped Toe

A 100% polyester canvas upper on an EVA rubber outsole. EVA is foamed rather than solid rubber: it cushions the step and flexes with the foot while keeping the weight down, where a vulcanized sole would be stiffer and heavier for nothing gained. The faux leather toe cap sits over the first place a canvas shoe wears through. Breathable lining and a soft insole inside, with a collar padded all the way round and lacing that runs the full height, so the fit can be tuned at the ankle rather than only at the instep.

Two Minutes Of Care, No Machine

Damp cloth, a little soap, done. Do not machine wash the pair. The print would come out unharmed, but the sole is bonded on a hand-assembled shoe and that bond is the weak point.

A glue smell on opening the box is normal. It comes from hand assembly and it clears in a few days with the pair left out in the air.

Navy Under Indigo Works

Navy behaves like a neutral, so this pair is the most versatile of the bright prints in the range. It works under indigo denim without the two blues clashing, because the shoe reads darker than the jeans rather than competing with them. Grey, white and camel all sit well above it.

Is It Navy Or Is It Black

Does the navy read as black in photographs? In low light it can, but in daylight it is clearly blue. The yellow and red sitting against it are what make the navy legible as navy rather than as a dark neutral.

Is a dark canvas easier to keep clean? Yes, in practice. Navy hides dust and light scuffing that would show immediately on a pale ground, so the pair needs cleaning less often.

Will both shoes carry the same strokes? No. The print is laid over a single continuous panel and cut afterwards, so left and right take different parts of the design. They are made as a pair, not as a mirrored set.

Size Guide

Stand on a sheet of paper and measure heel to longest toe, then match the length below rather than ordering your usual number. Foot length is rounded to the nearest quarter inch, so some neighboring half sizes read the same. If you fall between two, take the larger.