From bantu knots and baby hairs, to disco and techno, the dab, the whoa, and every major TikTok dance trend you can bring to mind, Black people drive contemporary culture. But very rarely do we see Black creatives receive proper recognition – or compensation – for their work.
, Black Art is Black Money is a short film exploring some of the many examples around the world where Black culture has been the catalyst for global trends.
The film is directed by Akin Adebowale andOusman Sahko Sow, who are the co-founders of Blacktag – the Issa Rae-approved, Black-owned creative company that houses independent Black creatives and provides a platform for them to showcase their work.
9February 2021
Fashion is eating itself.
Yesterday, Brooklyn collective MSCHF dropped its latest fashion mash-up/ hype-chase/comment on consumer culture – the Birkinstock. Modelled after the Arizona sandal, the hybrid style is made from an official Birkenstock cork-and-rubber sole, with chopped-up Hermès Birkin bags creating the leather straps.
The Birkinstocks come in four versions – ostrich, two shades of porosus crocodile, and taurillon clemence – for prices starting from $34,000. They are made to order and available while supplies last. According to the
New York Times, MSCHF bought only four Birkin bags to destroy and three pairs of the shoes have already been sold: to Future, Kehlani, and an unnamed art collector. The collective is also planning to keep a pair for itself.
Clocking in at over 352 pages, the book traces the creative history of these designs, taking the reader through the process for each model from concept to prototype to finished product. Aiming to give a holistic overview of the collaboration,
ICONS also includes original text messages between Abloh and Nike designers as well as raw material from the Nike archives, all contextualised within the history of sneaker culture.
“Virgil Abloh elevates sneakers into the realm of visual culture where they become cultural objects,” says Zak Kyes, founder of London-based studio Zak Group which partnered with Abloh for the design of the book. Kyes, who shares a background in architecture with Abloh, was introduced to the designer through mutual friends and the two first started talking about the book at the end of 2018.
Maison Margiela Tabis by Ying Chang
Ying Chang, a contemporary London-based artist who describes her work as ‘anti-throw away’, coated each Tabi in thick layers of silicon. After peeling away the layers in a bid to symbolise the ‘Tabi’s journey of transformation’, the result of her process is akin to a snake emerging from its shredded skin.
Similarly, Pattern Chineso, a Chinese art collective based in Spain, also wanted to explore the idea of a ‘second skin’. Inspired by the way teenagers protect their trainers by wrapping them in specially designed bags, the collective moulded discarded plastic found in local corner shop bins over the Tabi’s and spray painted them in various patterns.