Thanks to the way Nike is involved and how successful Lance Armstrong is at everything he does, Livestrong and the Lance Armstrong Foundation must be one of the more successful charitable organizations out there. And it looks like they’ve just hit on another fantastic idea in the “Stages” Tour. “Stages” will gather twenty hot artists from around the world to create original works of art which will be displayed at the famed Emmanuel Perrotin Gallery in Paris. After a brief residency there, the pieces will go on tour to New York, Los Angeles and Portland. Upon completion of the tour, the art will be sold and the proceeds given to LAF.
And now for the part the sneakerheads are waiting for. The Stages Tour is actually a two-pronged money-drive, the art along with a special edition footwear and apparel sale. Nike Sportswear will be launching the “Hope Rides Again” apparel and footwear collection and the “Greatest Hits” footwear collection, as well as the “Evolution of Air” and “Cutters” packs.
I’ll just get this out of the way right now: the Greatest Hits pack is one of the best limited packs I’ve ever seen. It contains four great shoes (Nike Footscape Woven, Futura FLOM Dunk, AF1), including two of the hottest Air Force 1′s that have ever been made (Busy P 1World Air Force 1 and Mr. Cartoon Air Force 1), re-imagined with a Livestrong Twist. Right behind the Greatest Hits pack, looks-wise, is the Evolution of Air pack, featuring fantastic Livestrong renditions of the Air Max 180, Air Max 90 and Air Max 1. Closing out the group is the Lunar Pack (LunaRacer and Lunar Everyday in Livestrong colors) and The Cutters pack. I’ll drop the apparel in the next blog entry. Artists involved in the Livestrong Stages project include Shepard Fairey, Tom Sachs, Geoff McFetridge, Raymond Pettibon, José Parlá, Ed Ruscha, Kaws, Christopher Wool, Dzine, Eric White, Barry McGee, Kenny Scharf, Os Gêmeos, Marc Newson, Rosson Crow, Taryn Simon, JR, Yoshitomo Nara, Suejin Chung, Lari Pittman, Aaron Young and Jules de Balincourt.
