It may be The Stoned Lui's bornday but August 8 will also be the birth of a new era. As Shelflife teased before, we finally have a smallanyana look at what 8/8/11 will be all about. The Cape Town sneaker and graffitti culture store has collaborated with Puma on a brand spanking new sneaker. So far this is what we know: the colourway is grey and yellow, grey and yellow, grey and yellow. And that's not because they were a few shades shy of mimicking a rap song. It's because those are the colours of South Africa's train system, the Metrorail.
We also know that the sneakers are called the Train Runners. And we know that you can win tickets to the launch party happening on, you guessed it, 8/8/11. So click HERE for info on those. In the meantime, Shelflife is still teasing folks by releasing a few snaps of the actual kicks just to give you a sense of what they'll look and feel like. Peep:
From asking around on which sneaker is everybodies favourite, Jordans have featured heavily in a lot of the answers. So while perusing through Kronks collaboration pieces with Nike, we figured who better than "Mr-I-been-rocking-Jordans-since-I-was-thirteen" himself Tumi, to school us on Jordan-heads. Oh, and he also tells us about some of his near future moves too. Oh and yes, he also struggles (a lot) with how to pronounce theblagg and the ethos behind what we do - it's ok though, we're not mad. It was endearing. Plus you can't be mad at someone who smiles in the face of a drunk heckler making a bum of himself. Peep and don't sleep!!
Yeah, this is what Dude looked like when he found out adidas was trying to charge R6500 for a varsity jacket. Hehehe, but this is about bigger things. This is about the man who collaborated with Kidrobot and brought us this 8" Dunny Tree Hugger Snowflake from the 2009 Munnyworld Toy Exhibition. This is about Kronk.
Unlike what you might have thought, Kronk is not an Eastern European energy drink. Kronk, known to those close to him as Kris Hewitt, is actually a illustrator/designer from Cape Town - where else? But why is he so important right now you ask? Well because Nike finally did it and collaborated with a South African artist! That's right, South Africa's Kronk is the first AFRICAN artist to collaborate with Nike.
Here is Itumeleng Khune in a tee from the collab.
Kronk x Nike Sportswear's collection is called Bleed Your Colours and will be officially launched in Melville on Friday May 7. SAVE THE DATE. As seen in this mini-ad below, the cool kids of our country ride bikes, run on the side walks and we see the face of the pint-sized character that rushes by everyone nje nge svung-vung that leaves behind a trail of colour. The green, black and yellow of our flag bleeds down a public telephone and drips down walls.
So what is this collaboration all about? We pinched this info from Hypbeast: "This year, Nike worked with established and emerging artists from six countries to create alternative National Team Kits that flip the script on the classic football kit. The Nike team asked artists to contribute a badge, mascot, print and an alphabet in their handwriting style. Each collaboration includes N98 Track Jacket, AW 77 hoodie, kit tee, polo shirt and short for both men and women; then tee for men and tank for women."
The good folks at Nike tell theblagg that Nunca from Brasil, James Jarvis from England, So-Me from France, Delta from Netherlands, Mister Cartoon from the USA, and Kronk representing South Africa were the lucky six. On why he chose to design his collection this way, Kronk said, "For the crest, I looked at all the PSL teams logos, and decided that if our national side is made up from these teams, I would recreate and unify all these logos around uniquely South African influenced elements.”
You've seen what kind of damage Kronk can do when it comes to toys so a mascot was no-thing (say it like Morale) to him. This running-man-demon-looking mascot seems like a bit of a balloon-boy busy body blowing a vuvuzela. But why does he have elastoplast on his head? Our kind of football hooligan. theblagg likes! And with us hosting the 2010 FIFA World Cup, it's only fitting that Bleed Your Colours make such a huge statement in the world of design.
As a part of the Cape Town-based creative house Amicollective, Kronk has worked with brands like Red Bull, Coke, Microsoft, Kid Robot and Superga so it comes as no surprise that Nike Sportswear would wanna give him the business. No Yung Berg. This collection can be found at the Gallery on 4th in Melville, Johannesburg as well as Nike Sportswear inside the V&A Waterfront in Cape Front from this Friday. Kronk's Team South Africa kit is better looking than the real thing. What say you jury?
PS: Yes, that it Siyabonga Ngwekazi rocking a Bleed Your Colours jacket. He has a collaboration - on television of course - with Nike coming to a small screen near you real soon. theblagg has the er, scoop and will serve you with the quickness. Just you wait.
