The CONS AS-1 Pro sneaker debuts globally on May 2, 2023.
Empanadas. Corn on the cob. Open bar with margaritas and mojitos. All surrounded by art and photography to the tunes of DJ’s from New York City.
On Saturday Oct 15, SNIPES in partnership with Converse and Street Dreams put on the “Mi Gente” exhibit in the Bushwick neighborhood of Brooklyn.
The events celebrated Hispanic Heritage Month and the launch of the SNIPES x Converse “Mi Gente” sneaker collection, special color ways of the Chuck Taylor All-Start and the Chuck 670.
The spacious white walled room was packed with fashionable Brooklynites, many sporting chic streetwear and Converse. A dance floor, art gallery and photo booth practically all occupied the same space.
Works by Campos, Gabriella Gabriella, Joe Cavallini, Roger Castle and more lined the room as people danced, ate and mingled. Much of the photography and artwork featured everyday Latinos going about their lives. For example, there were photographs of little league teams and street vendors as well as portraits.
Live DJ sets were provided by Odalys, Dana Lu and Dada Cosmic. One of the performers, DJ Odalys, serves as the face of the campaign, starring in the campaign launch video.
In it, she visits where she grew up and talks about what her Hispanic roots mean to her. You can watch the video here.
On June 16th I attended the world premiere of Savitree, Richie Shazam’s new short film at Tribeca Film Festival. Shazam’s directorial debut honoring the Converse Pride campaign, celebrated Found Family.
Found Family, the people met on the journey to Pride who surround us with love, support and acceptance. For Richie, at the age of 18 that was life long friends Briana Andalore and Julia Fox. She felt an instant connection to Fox whom she said was the life of the party. They both gave each other the strength to live life unapologetically themselves despite the odds stacking against them.
Shazam’s film explores what it means to live outside your body. Often using the subway as a point of escape, Shazam found herself spending hours upon hours riding anywhere in the city. This helped her feel free, when her home life was otherwise in shambles.
The screening was followed by a Q&A moderated by Shazam’s good friend Julia Fox. The two of them on stage were full of life and wanted to share as many stories as they could about life when they first met. For the two of them, it was a full circle moment being on stage. Shazam could not emphasize enough how important this film was for her but also for her friends whom she lost throughout the journey. It is important for her to not only tell her story but the story of those no longer here.
After the Q&A there was a huge party in celebration of the screening. Attendees dressed beautifully and were treated to an open bar and bite size snacks. The DJ was playing the best music including everything from Bad Bunny to Britney Spears. Richie and her friends took in the moment for all of its glory.
This past Wednesday, the Tribeca Film Festival hosted the Tribeca X event, co-sponsored by Roku, at the Indeed Theater at Spring Studios. Tribeca X “celebrates the intersection of advertising and entertainment and honors the creators and brands who share a love of creativity and a mission to connect with consumers through the power of storytelling.” It was an afternoon filled with in-person conversations with panels on different areas relating to advertising and media. Each conversation brought together “industry leaders from brands and agencies to examine the landscape of branded entertainment and recognize the achievements of companies and creators who are adventurous and distinctive in their work.”
I had the chance to sit in on the day’s conversation, which included breakfast and networking lunch, and hear all about the amazing work that is done at the intersection between business and entertainment. It is after all referred to as the entertainment business.
Some of the Tribeca X panels and topics of conversation were as follows:
OKX Global CMO Haider Rafique in Conversation with Samantha Barry featuring Haider Rafique and moderated by Samantha Barry
Designing a Diverse Future Presented by Nike Inc featuring Brandice Daniel and Dr. D’Wayne Edwards and moderated by Jarvis Sam.
Dear Santa: From X to ABC featuring Dana Nachman, Chris Karpenko, and Jennifer Donohue and moderated by Brendan Gaul
A Whole New Ball Game: How Sports Is Driving the Creator Economy featuring Saquon Barkley and CC Sabathia and moderated byRich Kleinman
and lastly
Advancing the Culture and Currency Through Inclusive Storytelling, featuring Marc Pritchard, Zoey Martinson, Don Jackson, and LL Cool J and moderated by Rose Pierre- Louis.
Other presentations were also by Converse, Roku, and Mast- Jägermeister US.
Panelists discussed their continued faith in cryptocurrency (Rafique), turning a documentary into a docuseries to be premiered on Hulu (Dear Santa), and their efforts to widen the screen and further the efforts of storytelling in marginalized communities (P&G), among many other topics. Many of the companies discussed their efforts both financially and in messaging by working with marginalized creators to expand the scope of storytelling in today’s world. It was humbling and fulfilling to know that more people are being given the opportunity and the access to showcase their talents on a larger scale, many of them with little feedback from these larger companies.
Also during the event, there was an awards ceremony to recognize some of the outstanding participants in Tribeca X. The awards “recognize the achievements of companies and creators who share a mission to connect with consumers through the power of storytelling. Tribeca X celebrates the best story-driven filmmakers and brand collaborations of the year in four categories: Feature Film, Short Film, Series, and Immersive.”
Full Winners List:
Feature Film:
The Beauty of Blackness (Sephora)
Directed by Kianna Moore, Tiffany Johnson
Short Film:
The Comeback (Apple)
Directed by Zhang Meng
Series:
Stories About Helpful People (Zendesk)
Directed by Sindha Agha, Erin Brethauer, Tim Hussin
Immersive:
Emerging Radiance (Meta)
Created by Tani Ikeda, Michelle Kumata
Here’s a line-up of the hottest new kicks available for purchase.
So Fader was a bit a different this year instead of Converse giving out free sneakers, you could buy them from iPads right when you walked in. It was Converse’s 15th year in Austin. It was a music lovers dream with sets from Kelela, Anderson .Paak, Gallant, and Yo Gotti.
The much loved partners, Converse and Missoni are releasing something so spectacular that it is sure to make their fans jump for joy.
Alright, we’re New Yorkers. We’ve managed to somehow survive over 40 inches of snow, the coldest day in 65 years the city has experienced, and now a hurricane.
Converse announced their collaboration with Tokyo-based street culture icon, Hiroshi Fujiwara, to create the converse CONS CTS fragment design collection.
Last month, CONVERSE Inc. unveiled the all-new Converse Jack Purcell Signature Leather, the latest addition to the Converse Jack Purcell Signature collection, delivering the highest levels of style, comfort and durability.
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