1HUND(RED) Converse shoes on show
Further to our post about new book Art & Sole the other week, the latest project to marry art with sneakers can be explored at the Converse store on London’s Carnaby Street – which is currently hosting an exhibition of sneakers designed by 100 different image makers for the Converse 1HUND(RED) Artists programme.
The exhibition showcases all of the 100 designs created for the 1HUND(RED) project, with each of the varied shoe designs containing a unique number located inside the shoe that identifies the artist who created the shoe. The numbers correspond to a page on converse.com that includes information about the artist, design inspirations and more details about the project.
Yes, OK, there have been an awful lot of these artist/shoe brand collaborations recently but this one is at least (in part) in a good cause – apparently 5 to 15% of the net proceeds (depending on the shoe) from every sale of the Converse (PRODUCT) RED range will go directly to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. (Is it just us or does 5 to 15% sound a little mean?)
Anyway, as well as the production versions of the shoes designed for the project, the exhibition also displays original hand-painted, customised shoes by a selection of Converse 1HUND(RED) contributors, including Ben Drury, David Rainbird and Precious McBane… Originals are framed on the wall with the production versions sitting below (as shown in the above image).
Here’s a selection of sneakers on show at the exhibition…
Design #3: by Camilla Engman. Printed graphic on canvas upper
Design #58: by Steve Monti. Canvas upper with leather overlay
Design #30: by Jeremyville. Printed graphic on leather upper
Design #12: by Dr. Romanelli. Printed graphic on leather upper
Design #24: by Jeff Hamada. Printed graphic on canvas upper
Design #1: by Michael White
Design #37: by Grandpeople. Printed graphic on canvas upper
Design #56: by Agathe de Baillencourt. Handpainted original design submission. The production version of the shoe, which is also on show in the exhibition, looks pretty close to this too…
For more info about the designers and their designs, visit converse.com
The exhibition runs until Friday 31 October at the Converse store, upstairs at Size?, 33-34 Carnaby Street, London W1
PS: If you don’t like any of the designs you see, you can always design your own on the Make Mine Red section of converse.com (although at the time of writing, they can only ship to the US)
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Nice!
Ian C
14/Oct/08, 3:30 pm