New York Sneakerheads, Vintage Lovers Won’t Be Able to Resist This Sneaker Exhibit
Multimedia company Futurevvorld is putting on a vintage sneaker exhibit in New York City for sneakerheads and vintage lovers alike.
The exhibit, called “Mission: Deadstock,” combines the efforts of multiple industry tastemakers and sneaker aficionados who lent their personal collections for display, with secondhand retailers also providing rare editions. The 40 sneakers will be featured at Extra Butter’s Lower East Side location and is free and open to the public Saturday and Sunday.
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“Before hype was king, I used to walk into stores in New York City like Classic Kicks, Clientele, Recon, DQM, etc.…and find stuff I’d never heard of and never seen,” Daniel Navetta, editor in chief of Futurevvorld, told WWD. “Those trips into the city were unforgettable journeys of discovery, not only of what sneakers I’d come home with, but of my own creative self-expression…Via ‘Mission Deadstock’ I’m trying to revive that unique energy with this project — and also make a point about environmental responsibility. Everyone is invited and we’ll make the whole project available digitally as well via a zine, so the world can experience this project.”
Rather than hype furthering consumption and a “vicious cycle” of exploitation, in his words, Navetta wants the opposite. In the literal sense, Futurevvorld’s exhibit aims to drive home the mission of expunging deadstock from the footwear industry, helping consumers envy more conscious means of consumption by turning to what’s already available on resale channels.
Asked what sustainability criteria defined entry into the display, Navetta said, “The main criteria for us were to convince people that deadstock or ‘gently used’ is the most viable option if we want to talk about ‘sustainability.’ Within lesser-known and deadstock sneakers lies the potential to reinvigorate your own originality. Buying the newest and most hyped sneaker is the least sustainable thing you can do.…We wanted all of the sneakers on display to be hand-selected from industry leaders and curators.”
That hand-selected collection includes shoes like the Reebok Pump “Dee Brown,” courtesy of journalist Jacques Slade; the Nike Air Icarus, courtesy of Andrew Ng, founder of Sneaker Preservation Society; the Nike Zvezdochka, courtesy of Hartcopy’s creative lead Samuel Le Roy, and the Reigning Champ x adidas Pure Boost, courtesy of artist Sophia Chang, among others.
During the exhibit’s run, attendees can purchase a commemorative Mission: Deadstock T-shirt designed by Felipe Merida and printed by LQQK Studios on biodegradable blanks from sustainable manufacturing platform Version Tomorrow. Priced at-will (meaning people can pay what they want), all of the proceeds from the limited-run T-shirts will be donated to local charity partners like Remake, Housing Works and Fabscrap. And as for the sneakers, Futurevvorld will auction off every display pair on its website after the exhibit’s close.
As for what’s next, Futurevvorld said it is considering the potential to take Mission: Deadstock to the West Coast and internationally.
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