Classic Comfort meets Innovation: Keds for Opening Ceremony Sneakers

Opening Ceremony, a company that's known for its unique business philosophy of collaborative design, has teamed up with Keds to create a line of shoes that take inspiration from various cultures unique to a specific country. To date, OC has released four Keds collections: two for Britain, one for the US, and one for France.

Opening Ceremony and Keds: a match made in heaven or a match destined for a quickie divorce? Although there wasn't a lot of hype over the release of the Keds for Opening Ceremony line of shoes because it was overshadowed by other, glitzier Opening Ceremony collabs, these sneakers definitely have staying power and the potential to be shoe closet staples.

According to Opening Ceremony's creative director Humberto Leon, the first thing he and his team thought about at before embarking on the Keds and OC sneakers collaboration was the fabric they were going to use. The first Keds for Opening Ceremony collection is inspired by classic Americana, and the fabrics used were mainly denim and chambray. The sneakers are in primary colors, with shoelaces with a decidedly nautical feel. These Keds for OC sneakers are equally perfect with designer jeans or faded Levi's.

These unisex sneakers in unapologetically patriotic hues are All-American and oh-so-cute. These would look perfect with a short, floaty summer dress for Fourth of July picnics.

Next up, Britain-inspired Keds! Keds for OC has two collections that take inspiration from British punk culture, circa 1970s. The sneaker style used for the Keds for OC Tribute to London collection was the classic Keds Champion shoe. This collection features the Keds Champion sneakers done up in three wild animal prints: zebra, cheetah, and leopard. Instead of canvas, the shoe's are crafted from real pony hair, giving the print a unique texture and making these sneaks rocking enough to wear to wear on a night out on the town. Needless to say, these aren't the comfy yet humdrum Keds you would normally wear to buy groceries.

The second British-punk inspired collection takes inspiration from '70s-era neon-colored punk hairstyles. The sneakers come neon shades bright enough to stop traffic. The shoe style used for this line-up is the old stand-by, classic low-top Pro-Keds. The sneakers are available in three eye-blistering colors – neon royal pink, neon royal yellow, and neon royal orange.

The third collection (my favorite one) is inspired by France, and makes use of "toile de jouy" prints and embroidery. Yes, that's right: embroidery. Artist Richard Saja, who's been putting his own twist on classic toile prints for several years now, is in charge of the fabric design on the Keds for OC French edition sneakers, and they have him embroidering designs for use in the French edition of Keds for OC (the sneakers also come in printed embroidery). Richard Saja has a whimsical sense of humor, as is evident in his creations for Keds for OC. He likes inserting random doodles into the toile print, such as placing colorful cartoon monsters in the middle of idyllic pastoral scenes or putting bunny ears on a French matron's head. The end result is kind of like what would happen if an imaginative child took a marker to Granny's toile print wallpaper, with surprisingly pleasant results.

The Keds for Opening Ceremony selection is my favorite Opening Ceremony collaboration to date, with Betsey Johnson Archives curated by Opening Ceremony a close second. Keds and Opening Ceremony certainly did a bang-up job on these fantastic kicks. I can't wait for the next collections, inspired by other countries and other cultures, to arrive and rock my socks off!

Many celebrities have been pictured wearing Keds, including Kristen Stewart.