Nike
Art & Sole Cortez
To celebrate the release of the mini-edition Art & Sole book (written and designed by Intercity) and the launch of the classic Nike Cortez silhouette on NIKEiD, Intercity worked with Nike to design the Art & Sole Cortez sneaker collection.
We commissioned four artists - Jiro Bevis, Matthew Nicholson, Shantell Martin and Rose Stallard - to create an artwork for one of four limited edition Art & Sole book covers. Working with different media; print, moving image, sculpture and sneaker-art respectively, the artists' brief was simply to interpret the Cortez sneaker using a specifically assigned colour - red, magenta, green or blue - which correlated to the category-signifying contents dots of Art & Sole . A book featuring each artist's artwork was then packaged in a bespoke sneaker box alongside a pair of the Art & Sole Cortez sneakers. The moving image piece created by Shantell Martin was also included within the packs on a Cortez-shaped flash-drive.
The sneakers themselves are tonal grey, referencing the blank-canvas shoe colour that is synonymous with NIKEiD, and have a gum outsole that pays homage to the first ever Cortez. We also added an embroidered ampersand to the heel and a colour-coded accent in the lining of the shoe to coordinate with the associated artwork. Each colourway of the book/sneaker pack was produced in a limited run of 40.
The launch for the project was held at the NIKEiD Studio in Boxpark, London, with all four artworks on display and music supplied by Mikill Pane, Will Power and B.Traits. Additional activities included live drawing by Shantell Martin, a silent auction (to win one of the packs) with proceeds going to local youth-led charity Art Against Knives, and a Cortez iD design competition. There was also colour-coordinated food in the form of pie & mash - with red, magenta, green and blue-coloured mash to match the Art & Sole Cortez shoes.
Related
Pippy Eats
Identity for Asian Food Specialist
The Atlantic Project
Nike
Presto iD
Nike