A one-time athletic niche, sneakers have evolved into an entire fashion culture, staking out their own world of style. Literally moving us through the world – like all the best devices, they are truly mobile – they have also become a conduit for expressing ourselves.
all images courtesy of gucci.com
For Pre-Fall 2016, Gucci debuted the Ace low-tops, revitalizing a classic House functional sneaker design with fresh patterns and embroideries drawn from the visual lexicon of creative director Alessandro Michele.
From the new sneaker design, a new digital project is born. Dubbed #24HourAce, a group of artists as international as sneaker culture adopt the Ace as a symbol of never-ending action. In projects that unfold on the mobile phone screen, in time zones that span the world, artists bring the sneakers to life as they were meant to be.
all images courtesy of gucci.com
Sue DeBeer, a New York-based video artists, creates an installation and performance that shows the Ace kicks as part of the glittering yet ominous beauty of youth. Korean longboarder Hyo Joo wears a pair on a dynamic journey through urban space. London artist Adan Csoka Keller presents an eerie choreography of the sneakers in a vast gym pool, while Chinese animator Winnie Chi brings Ace’s bee, flower, and lightning emblems to life in an otherwordly cartoon lanscape.