The Dalai Lama, Magic Johnson And These Other Guys Actually Wore Bata Footwear!

When we first found out that Kurt Cobain, THE friggin’ Kurt Cobain actually owned a pair of Bata shoes, we were almost as shocked as that time we watched The Red Wedding. Or that last revelation in the Sixth Sense, or like, that time when our food delivery order actually arrived on time. Okay... you get the point.

Anyway, the pair Kurt owned was from the Bata Hotshot Collection which just recently made a comeback to our shores as part of the Bata Heritage AW17 Collection.

If you’ve not seen ‘em, the first new Hotshot collection features four colour schemes: green and blue, black and yellow, blue and red, and blue and yellow. Feast your eyes on the beauties below:



Now highly curious about the brand, we decided to get in touch with great grandson of Tomas Bata himself, Charles Pignal, who’s currently the Brand Director of Bata Heritage to address a few things we’ve always wondered about.

Firstly, Why Do Most People Think Bata Is A Malaysian Brand?

This, we found out is because “Bata’s core value of serving customers means that we pay very close attention to local markets and customer preferences, so the collections and displays feel as if they were specifically made for the local market. Other brands generally export from a central location, so it doesn’t feel as close to the customer.” This way, every country would feel the same we do in the sense that Bata is a locally produced brand.

Tell Us Some Interesting Stuff We May Not Know About Bata

“Most people would be surprised to know that we have design & development teams in Italy, Chile, Canada, India and Singapore. And besides Kurt Cobain, there’s a very long list of other famous people who have worn the shoes.

Magic Johnson, the basketball player, wore Bata sneakers when he played at Michigan State University. I believe the Bata Shoe Museum in Toronto has a pair of Bata flip flops that were donated by the Dalai Lama who wore them. And in a funnier vein, the characters The Dude and Walter from the movie The Big Lebowski both wear Bata shoes in that movie.”

Which is an awesome movie and you deserve to step on a LEGO if you've not seen it, by the way.

That Is Hella Cool. If We Were To Try To Impress People Who Aren’t Aware Of Bata Heritage, What Would You Share About The Brand And Its Products?

"I’d share photos of the early Bata pioneers who travelled across the planet in the 1930s, building factories and businesses in very remote and exotic locations that are still operating today. That longevity is due to the unique values of Bata of building sustainable business based on serving customers and employees."

Are You Yourself A Sneakerhead, Charles? What’s Your Top 3 Favourite Shoes From The Bata Heritage Collection?

"Bata Bullets, Bata Tennis and Bata Hotshots."

What’s The Most Prized Shoe You Guys Have From Bata Heritage?

"Our collaboration with the Japanese brand Comme des Garçons in 2015. It was a very rare edition and was a really fun project to work on. I keep getting requests today from people about where they can buy it…"


Well, we guess we won't be getting a pair of those any time soon lah.