There is something about Diadora that still feels genuinely hands on. Not just designed in Italy, but actually built there too. The brand started back in 1948 making mountain boots in the Veneto region it still calls home, long before it became one of sport’s most recognisable names.
Which is why the JW Anderson collaboration feels different. This is not just another luxury name stamped onto a retro runner. It feels more like a collision between Anderson’s offbeat fashion instinct and Diadora’s slower, deeply Italian relationship with sport, craft and archive.
The Equipe already comes with history built in. First released in 1975 for athletes moving between track and road, it arrived at a moment when performance footwear was starting to develop its own identity. JW Anderson keeps that DNA intact, but shifts it slightly sideways. The result still feels sporty and recognisably Diadora, just sharper and more fashion conscious.
To understand why the shoe feels different, we went to Diadora’s factory in Italy to watch how it all comes together.
The first thing you notice is the pace. Nothing feels rushed. Some of the machines have been there for decades and some stages take far longer than modern production lines would allow, but Diadora keeps them because they still matter.
The process starts with the heel, shaped using heat, cold and pressure before the shoe has even fully formed. The upper is then tensioned onto the last by hand, with operators adjusting the material through feel as much as technique. Every movement depends on someone knowing exactly what right is supposed to feel like.
That human side is what really stands out. Diadora explained that maintaining the old machinery matters, but maintaining the skill around it matters even more. Training someone properly can take years.
Further down the line, every detail still feels obsessive. Sole lines are marked by hand before tape is applied to protect the upper from glue. The brand now uses a water based glue which is cleaner and less chemical heavy than older versions, but also much harder to manage. It needs more heat, more time and more precision to work properly.
From there, the shoe moves through heat, pressing and finally a cooling chamber sitting at around minus 11 degrees before finishing and quality control begins. Every pair is cleaned, checked and inspected by hand before boxing.
Seeing all of this changes the way you look at the JW Anderson collaboration. On the surface, it is easy to focus on the styling or the nostalgia of the Equipe silhouette itself. But the interesting part is really what sits underneath it. JW Anderson brings the disruption. Diadora brings the discipline.
Anderson is known for taking familiar objects and making them feel strange again. Diadora still approaches shoemaking with a kind of stubborn patience, where every pair passes through hands, heat, pressure and judgement before it reaches a shelf.
That is what gives the collaboration its weight. The design grabs your attention first, but the making is what gives it substance. Watching the shoe move from heel shaping to hand tensioning, glue, pressing and finishing, you realise the real story is not just how the sneaker looks. It is how much care still goes into making it...
