I've carried the idea of an atom for a long while and have always thought it was the coolest looking thing. I'm talking like my 4th grade class with Mr.Alfanzo..that long! I'm 23! There are plenty of things in the memory bank that I utilities as ideas for the future. They just are there for the picking! But sometimes the ideas are sporadic and they pop up from my subconscious. It's a brilliant feeling! like a whirlwind of inspiration to just do something. The atom is one of those things.
I've thought about what it's like to make a shoe or design something cool looking that ISN'T in the same vein as a dunk. Not that I don't like dunks, I just don't give fuck about outsourcing shit. I don't like the back and fourth emails about sampling and sizing and blah blah blah blah blah!!! idc!! I like making my own stuff! thats whats fun about it. Making it!!
if I can't hold it physically in my own hand its not worth me doing, Especially when I knew I could do it my way. ;)
Thus brings us the Chuck Taylor! The quintessential All American shoe in all of its glorious virtue! err..whatever. It's a blank canvas that has been utilized since the dawn of the punks. And i'm goddamn proud to be one of them! (i'm punk at heart <3) Don't get me wrong the "Swooshes" "stars" and "stripes" are all notable symbols in the shoe world...But I thunk real hard about what I could bring to the table of the shoe world. And it hit me! the atom that I had been drawing over and over and over and over and over would work perfectly as a shoe symbol because it's harmless and neutral! AND it has an energetic affilitation.
I'm glad my idea came to fruition and looking at how they came out made me realize i'm not too far off from the big guys doing mega collabs with the actual CONVERSE brand. But!!! I would like to take a moment to say that although the past couple shoes i've printed came out fine, There are many variables of print quality depending on the shoes sizes and where the aglets and the heel of the shoe hit the platen. I am obviously going to do my best to make the screen prints as consistent and clean as possible. But mind you that converse prints the material and THEN they sew the pieces together. I'm printing them after the fact so it's much harder with the incredibly finite space on the shoe. So no promises and just trust me ok? I'm thinking about how to go about selling them. maybe pre-orders idk? its tough cuz I wanna do multiple colors and mulitple sizes and i'd be hard to keep track of who wanted which color way and what size.
ANYWAY! i'll figure it out. In the mean time there is something that I have had made for months now and I will be posting it really soon. I guess that's all for now.
- image of fear
Big collab guy