Funky leisure footwear brand Royal Elastics was the brainchild of two young Australians, Tull Price and Rodney Adler.

Prior to setting up Royal Elastics, Price had organised parties and club nights in Sydney alongside launching a successful streetwear label. Inspired by the skateboarders trend of tucking in their laces he began to research ideas for a slip on trainer. Serious sports shoes by Nike, Adidas and Reebok had already left the sportsfield by the 1990's and were avidly taken up as fashionable streetwear. Price wanted to take this concept further and teamed up with his old schoolfriend Rodney Adler. Adlers's family had a long history in the Australian shoe trade which provided them with useful contacts.

Price and Adler spent several months travelling and researching the sports footwear market to ensure their idea would be unique. They aimed to produce modern leisure footwear inspired by sport and leisure shoes but with an emphasis on fashion not sporting performance. They also wanted to make lace-less footwear with an emphasis on innovative hold and fastening systems.

They carefully selected London for the launch of their brand in 1997. They felt the creative dynamic atmosphere of what was then termed 'Cool Brittania' was a suitable launchpad for their label. They linked up with major names in London's underground music and fashion scene and their label was soon seen as part of the innovative, lively and experimental 'Cool Britannia' scene. This was an influential network and within three years Royal Elastics were on the hip streetwear list and being stocked in major stores in Australia, the USA, Europe and Japan.

Despite the proliferation of Royal Elastic copies on the market (which they have attempted to discourage through a copyright marketing campaign in Ragtrader magazine) they have managed to keep ahead of the market and maintain their profile by introducing innovative new designs each year.

Designed by Royal Elastics. Co-Director's, designers and owners of the Royal Elastics company, Tull Price and Rodney Adler do most of the designing but also invite other designers to work on specific styles.

They define their brand as modern leisure footwear with styles inspired by classic footwear and sports shoes. They recognised the trend for sports shoes being worn as fashion and decided to take the concept a step further fusing sports and fashion into shoes with an emphasis on fashion.

The company has also taken an innovative approach to advertising by using the traditional medium of the music industry-street posters to promote their product. They have tried to maintain an exclusive underground appeal by not advertising in mainstream fashion magazines and by simply using their logo without the company name or images of their product. Hence these posters appeared in sets of three simply with the Royal Elastics logo and the text 'Sydney.' They were pasted up on walls and hoardings around the streets of Sydney.

Made in Australia.

These posters were designed and made in 2000.

Posters (3), advertising Royal Elastics shoes, paper, designed and made by Royal Elastics, Australia, 2000

Three street posters advertising Royal Elastics shoes.

Rectangular poster printed with Royal Elastics logo in white on a dark blue ground.

Rectangular poster printed with Royal Elastics logo in dark blue on a white ground.

Rectangular poster printed with Royal Elastics logo and the text 'Sydney' in white on a dark blue ground.

Made: Royal Elastics; Australia; 2000

2001/105/4

2000