Spare no creativity: The humble rental bowling shoe is ready for a fashion makeover

The humble, sometimes dull, you'd-never-wear-it-anywhere-else rental bowling shoe is due for a makeover.

Well,  it's probably been ready for years.

But now the bowling world is asking for help. In a national design contest called Bebowled, participants are being asked to come up with a fresh look for rental shoes — usually not the fanciest footwear on the lanes, much less anywhere else.

Five finalists will have their designs shown off at a Times Square runway show. The winner, to be chosen by a panel of judges that includes a fashion world celebrity, will have the design replicated in the rental shoes at Bowlero bowling alleys across the country.

Given bowling's history here, the contest is right up Milwaukee's, ahem, alley.

“I know we aren’t changing the world, one bowling shoe at a time, but we like to think we are doing our part to make the world a little bit more fun,” said Colie Edison, chief customer officer for New York-based Bowlero Corp., formerly Bowlmor AMF.

“What we offer, in bowling, is an antidote to the digital world,” she said.

Bowling is still pretty much an analog game, with a ball knocking down pins.

But many of the centers are high-tech — well, at least medium-tech — with laser lights and interactive video games.

The food has gotten fancy, too, with sushi, steaks and salads at Splitsville alleys in California, Florida, Virginia and Massachusetts. 

Still, it's not all gourmet grub.

“We have a five-pound behemoth burger. … You slice it like a cake and share it with your family and friends,” Edison said.

Amid those changes, the rental shoe is looking kind of tired these days.

“Iconic but outdated,” is how Edison describes it.

Contestants can submit their best designs by April 16 at www.bowlerocorp.com/designourshoes.

Five finalists will be named in late April, and in June they will be flown to New York to see their designs in a fashion show at the company’s Times Square bowling center.

There’s a cash prize of $2,500, for the winning design, as well as the fame — well, maybe the satisfaction — of seeing the vision brought to life in thousands of pairs of rental shoes starting in 2019.

One of the contest judges, not yet named, will be a celebrity from the fashion industry. The other two judges will be Edison and Bowlero Corp. CEO Tom Shannon.

“We want you to be bold, to take chances, and show us your creativity and style,” Edison said.

Now, before anyone gets too crazy with a design — such as bowling shoes that resemble cowboy boots — keep in mind you aren’t supposed to tinker with the functionality of this time-honored footwear.

Instead, put your efforts into colors, patterns, laces, stitching and things like that.

“We are not messing with the sole, the materials or the overall structure of the shoe,” Edison said. “I have seen high-heel bowling shoes, and they just didn’t seem that safe to me.”

'Down-and-dirty business'

Bowlero says it's the largest owner and operator of bowling centers in the world, with more than 300 locations and millions of customers.

Bowling shoes have been around for centuries. Some from the late 1800s were so versatile that people also wore them for boating and tennis, according to the website Bestofbowling.com.

Bowling alleys have had a problem with rental shoes getting stolen. Hard to imagine, but maybe some people think they're already making a fashion statement.

Rentals are a "down-and-dirty business,” said Tyler Jensen, a former pro bowler and now vice president of Dexter Shoe Co., which has made bowling shoes for decades.

“I think everyone just assumes that rental shoes are red and blue, or blue and red, and that’s the way they’ve looked forever,” Jensen said.

Pro bowler Jason Belmonte wears gold-colored shoes.

“Not for everyone, but I love them,” Belmonte says on his Facebook page.

“I must say the boys on tour are having fun teasing me,” he says.

Bowling shoes have been considered art.

Ohio University, for instance, once had an art exhibit using rental shoes discarded from a shut-down bowling alley. One artist took shoes apart and wove the red, white and blue suede into a quilt. Another burned a shoe and mixed the ashes in paint.

The attention to updated rental shoes comes at a time when bowling as a whole is experiencing a mini-renaissance. There aren't nearly as many alleys now, but the remaining ones are reaching out to a younger audience seeking an experience that combines old-fashioned fun, competition, athletic ability and face-to-face socializing. 

International bowling officials continue to push for the sport to be added to the Olympics, and it almost made the cut for the 2020 Summer Games. In Olympic villages, bowling alleys are popular destinations for athletes during their down time. 

Shoes, in many sports, are considered a form of self-expression.

"We are emotional creatures, and we respond in different ways," said Thornton Lothrop, a former Nike designer and now a professor at Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design. 

“Take what you know about the bowling shoe, how you’ve seen it before, and push it,” said Edison with Bowlero.