Iconic symbols in support of new life, Screenprinted graphic on canvas upper.

(converse) Red Chuck Taylor All Star Hi Top
Icons - coming Fall 2008

by: Warwick Kay/OJ Design Designer, Orange Juice Design Durban, South Africa

After apartheid, South Africa had an identity crisis-visually and culturally. As a new country who was it? What did it represent? This is where Orange Juice Design comes in. Founded by Garth Walker, the firm was the hero/savior/ founder of a new South African aesthetic. "After the 1994 election (when Mandella was elected) we needed to reflect the culture we live in," says Walker.

OJs 1HUND(RED) shoe, designed by Warwick Kay one of OJ's youngest members, is made of icons-a crown, red ribbon, Africa itself-and has the feel of a hand-painted sign you might find by the roadside. "I wanted to portray hope and victory while the ribbon wraps around and embraces Africa," Kay explains. "I wanted the design to be positive, to show that AIDS in Africa can be helped and controlled that there can be victory."

it all depends on how you look at it. screenprinted graphic on canvas upper.

(converse) Red Chuck Taylor All Star Hi Top
How You Look At It - coming Fall 2008

by: Rinzen Design Agency,Sydney, Australia

Like superheroes scattered across the globe, Rinzen's members team up to collaborate on projects with fellow Rinzens around the globe. Inspired by the idea of remixing tracks and exquisite corpses (where one person finishes another person's drawing), the five of them started trading work. One Rinzen, Craig Redman explains, "[When we started] we were all working on corporate projects and this was pure play. We drew and experimented with style learning from each other how to approach freedom." They were having so much fun they soon ditched the day jobs and teamed up together, and now collaboration is at the heart of what they do.

For their 1HUND(RED) shoe, Rinzen created prismatic trees with a little red figure riffing on Red Riding Hood (fairy tales figure large in their work). The shoe's primary designer Redman says, "I wanted them to look deceptive so when viewed from above, it would seem like a pattern but as you see the side of the shoe the scene is revealed."

The fabric connection, screenprinted graphic on canvas upper.

(converse) Red Chuck Taylor All Star Hi Top
The fabric connection - coming Fall 2008

by: Ana Ventura, Artist, Lisbon, Portugal

Ana Ventura's 1HUND(RED) Artists shoe first got its start in 2002 when the Portugese artist was living in Belgium---and very lonely for her friends back home. So, she created a conceptual art piece, making connected clothing that two people could wear at the same time so they'd feel connected to each other. And that idea of connection over distance inspired her 1HUND(RED) design. "The project is about helping people so I wanted to draw people communicating---the shoelace became the bearer of the message linking people to each other, from one side of the shoe to the other, from one part of the world to the other, from one continent to another," she explains.

Gratefull Dead White Converse All Star - Delivery: July 15th, 2008 - Price: $69.99

Gratefull Dead Black Converse All Star - Delivery: July 15th, 2008 - Price: $69.99