Starbucks Collaborates with Converse on Sneakers?! The Qixi Limited Edition is Absolutely Stunning!!!

Just in time for the Qixi Festival, Converse has once again teamed up with the Starbucks Reserve® Roastery for a festival-inspired collection — set for release on Friday, June 24th at the Starbucks Reserve® Roastery Tokyo.

The Qixi Festival is a traditional holiday that originated in China, and several Asian countries influenced by Chinese culture — Japan, the Korean Peninsula, Vietnam — celebrate their own versions of it. After Qixi arrived in Japan during the Nara period, it wasn't primarily a festival for love: girls prayed for skillful craftsmanship instead. And since Japan abolished the lunar calendar after the Meiji Restoration, the Japanese Tanabata is held every year on July 7th of the solar calendar.

Wherever it's celebrated, though, the festival centers on the story of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl — under different regional names. The legend grew out of ancient stargazing: on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, two exceptionally bright stars sit on either side of the Milky Way (astronomers call the pair "separated stars"). People linked them to the daily life of men farming and women weaving, naming them the Cowherd Star and the Weaver Girl Star.

Early on, China's Qixi was likewise a day for girls to pray for good craftsmanship, gathering to show off their needlework and fruit carving — which is why it was also called the "Begging for Skills Festival." Later, under the influence of Western Valentine's Day, the idea of rebranding Qixi as Chinese Valentine's Day took hold to protect the tradition.

Because the story is rooted in that enchanting night sky, this year's Starbucks x Converse collaboration draws on the galaxy, two shining stars, and a cooling ice blue suited to a hot summer.

The most eye-catching piece is unquestionably the Converse sneaker-shaped vase — yes, a vase. Built on the prototype of the classic Converse "All-Star," it carries the Starbucks Reserve® logo on the tongue and the tape on the outside, with a CONVERSE TOKYO logo printed inside. The colorway is ice blue — and as an actual shoe, it would look pretty great too.

Beyond the "shoes," the collaboration launched six other items: mugs, umbrella bottles, folding fans, bags, ear clips, and necklaces — each showcasing starry-sky elements. The folding fan is the perfect example, with Starbucks' star and Converse's star placed on opposite sides of the galaxy, a serendipitous collision of logos.

The whole collection fuses the two brands and the festival into one three-in-one concept: see Converse, think Starbucks; see Starbucks, think Converse; see Qixi, think of both.

And this isn't the first time. Last year's Qixi marked their debut collaboration, inspired by the galaxy and fireworks and the misty blue of constellations lighting up the night sky.

That All-Star vase took center stage too, in a laser milk-white finish evoking the galaxy and fireworks. To mimic the original shoe faithfully, the designers even recreated the natural wrinkles canvas develops after long wear, with both brand logos on the tongue and sides.

Six companion items launched alongside: T-shirts, mugs, transparent water cups, earrings, scarves, and bags. The inside of the bag even depicts the Cowherd and Weaver Girl stars — a delicate, thoughtful touch.

Starbucks has also collaborated with Hiroshi Fujiwara multiple times. Besides the usual thermoses and cups, and given how mainstream home brewing became after the pandemic, last year's collection leaned into minimalist home goods for a quality coffee life — a coffee French press, mugs, and blankets. Released, like each collaboration, at the end of November, the series used the matte black-and-white palette Fujiwara favors, with a modern design true to his personal style.

Frankly, it's lucky these collaborations aren't sold locally — otherwise this writer's wallet would be empty...

Image source: Internet

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

If all this starry-sky romance puts you in the mood for a balanced, medium-roast cup, FrontStreet has you covered. The FrontStreet Brazil Fazenda Rainha — a rare Yellow Bourbon from Brazil — brews up cream, peanut, chocolate, toasted bread, and sugarcane sweetness, never too sour and never too bitter, for pour-over, moka pot, or espresso.

For a sweeter, fruit-forward medium roast, the FrontStreet Strawberry Candy Geisha Blend pairs honey-processed Costa Rica with washed Panama Geisha for orange-blossom sweetness and a rounded finish, while the FrontStreet Jamaica Blue Mountain No.1, roasted to a perfect medium, melds chocolate, roasted nuts, cream, and caramel into one famously elegant, balanced cup.