Jamie Oliver is Cooking … Sneakers?

Jamie Oliver’s cookbook is boasting a new special kind of dish. It might not have the kick like his Hot Lasagna or his Spicy Indian Roast Chicken and runs short of being a world winner, but this dish is different to all his others which is why it deserves as a say. In fact, it’s not even a dish…

The MBE chef has teamed up with Seven Feet Apart to produce limited edition JO-18 Unisex Sneakers, inspired by Oliver’s personalised sneakers as a gift for his wife Juliette as part of their 18^th anniversary. One might assume Oliver had overused his food recipes to entice his wife for the last 17 years and had to bring something new to the table, and it seems the sneakers were a success. His gift is something that is personalised and customisable and is a concept that is gaining traction as an available service, allowing people to purchase items that better reflects their personality.

But a question, or rather a curse to people who are as wealthy as Jamie Oliver, is what do you buy someone who already has everything?

This question should not be taken so literally; Oliver can simply give his wife anything if he so wishes. Then again, even if you’re not Jamie Oliver, figuring out what to buy someone really is a difficult task. We shop around, picking up different items in a variety of shops we like, thinking that our other half’s will like also. It is like having a map with a clear destination in mind with various routes to take to get there. If you have a companion to go with you, it gets worse: ‘which one to choose said he, what one would be best said the other’. The journey is also important and should not be underestimated; it then becomes a gift where thought was put into it; the journey to figure out the perfect gift to someone.

Maybe the romance is not so much the sneakers themselves, but the approach to the gift. Oliver decided to be creative, using his connoisseur mind and craft in bringing ingredients together to form what is the sneaker. On the other hand, maybe giving his wife a pair of sneakers really is romantic. When one thinks of romantic gifts, you automatically think of gifts such as flowers, a box of chocolate, or jewellery. Oliver is just spicing things up a bit, not surrendering to the usual glossed over anniversary gifts to something that has a personal touch that will resonate with the owner’s character.

Jamie Oliver the shoemaker hasn’t really got the ring of Jamie Oliver the chef. Thankfully, that title is not here to stay, as his venture into sneakers is a one-off, and will be remembered as an unusual, albeit, romantic gesture from one of the UK’s most popular chefs. The sneakers own inspiring story will serve its owners proud and this collaboration between a chef and shoemaker is an unexpected event, but a welcome one.