Del Toro Luxury Brand Opens NYC Project Space
Del Toro, a luxury lifestyle brand based in Miami, has just opened their first NYC project space. They’ve released a special collaboration with artist Devin Troy Strother. This collaboration release will only be available in New York.
The collaboration has resulted in two footwear styles (one sneaker, one slide), each with reoccurring symbols used in Devin’s work (bananas,faces) which will be on display at the Del Toro project space alongside unique artworks by Devin.
Del Toro was founded by Matthew Chevallard in 2005 at the tender age of 19. Originally a men’s brand, Del Toro has expanded to womenswear. When Del Toro first hit the market its mission was to fill a void in the marketplace for affordable customized velvet slippers.
With much success the brand now includes wingtips, chukkas, sneakers, drivers and espadrilles. All products are hand made on the Adriatic Coast of Italy and are constructed with the finest Nappa leathers, suede, and velvets.
The company has collaborated with several artists to create special edition slippers in the past including Snarkitecture and Alec Monoply.
Read our exclusive interviews below:
Where did the idea to collaborate with Devin stem from?
Matthew: We’re both friends and we admire each others crafts so it just naturally happened and it’s a matter of me showing respect.
Can you speak about Del Toro growing from a slipper brand to a shoe company?
Matthew: It’s just a matter of evolution, we’ve grown and matured and we always intended to do.
How does it feel to have your first NYC store?
Matthew: It’s definitely awesome, it’s definitely a dream come true. It’s great. It’s getting to the big leagues and it’s everything we’ve always wanted to do.
How excited were you to receive the opportunity to work with Matthew Chevallard?
Devin: I was pretty excited, Matt and I are good friends and it was more casual. It just kind of happened naturally.
Tell me a little bit about your show at Richard Heller gallery.
Devin: The show is called “They should’ve never given you ni–as money” and basically I used all of the money that I made from Space Jam to produce the next show. The idea of the show was being a young African American kid, when you obtain a lot of money very quickly when you’re young. Sometimes you don’t know how to invest it and you don’t know what to do with it to make more money for yourself. A lot of times we just buy gear and cars and not all blacks but a lot of young black kids go that stereotypical way. So I just was thinking along those lines and used all of the money that I made to go back and do this art show but have it be very elaborate and swag out the show. It was kind of based out of that idea, what does a young black man do with a certain amount of money that’s made early on.
Can you tell me why bananas and faces are a reoccurring thing in your artwork?
Devin: The bananas and the faces work as symbols and signage for me. The black face character is from a controversial time when they would dress blacks up with black make up and minstrel shows. It kind of has a past but not everyone is aware of it. Some people know what it is some people don’t know what it is. Some people are okay with it, there are some golliwog dolls and are very into that cultural and there are some black people who have never even heard of it before. Some people see it and understand why I use it but at the same time it kind of evokes emotion for anyone who comes across it. So for me it’s a great thing. It’s a loaded symbol. The banana came across because it’s a symbol I associate with black people. I didn’t want to use a watermelon, that’s a little to direct. I used bananas because bananas are in African.
The NYC project space is located at 170 Mercer St.
