ALLEN EDMONDS DEBUTS ARTISTIC COLLABORATION WITH RALEIGH DENIM WORKSHOP
The artistic collaboration between Allen Edmonds’ creative team and Raleigh Denim Workshop’s founder and designer Victor Lytvinenko debuts with a nod to fine art through a gallery exhibition of painted canvases that will debut at the Allen Edmonds store in Rockefeller Center tonight. The twenty-two individually numbered black denim canvases uniquely bleach painted by Lytvinenko will be on display and available for purchase for $1,295. Each canvas purchased will be sent to the Allen Edmonds factory in Port Washington, Wisc., to be transformed into a bespoke pair of shoes by the artisans there. Each pair will be hand signed by Lytvinenko.
Developed based on Allen Edmonds’ iconic brogue oxford, each finished one-of-a-kind pair will feature exposed black eyelets and a black lacquered leather sole laser etched with Lytvinenko’s personal mantra, “Follow your heart. The meaning of the things we wear is as important as the thing itself.”
Building on the rarity of the 22 pairs and dropping on March 6th, Lytvinenko also designed a limited edition run of 200 pairs of Strand Oxfords, named the Strand Denim Dahlia Oxford. These shoes are crafted in black selvage denim, sourced by Lytvinenko from Vidalia Mills in Louisiana, and feature a black lacquered sole with a distinguished black grosgrain tab on the heel. The delicate fraying of the denim, created by the Port Washington Studio cutting process, adds texture to each pair. The Strand Denim Dahlia will be sold for $495.
Allen Edmonds has launched a campaign created for the partnership featuring both Lytvinenko and world-renowned musician and model, Adonis Bosso, photographed exclusively by Cliff Watts. The inspiration was Lytvinenko’s study of individuality and the creation of things that feel similar yet are each an original, like the heirloom Dahlia flowers he grows on his farm.
“The Legend Series was created and exists to provoke the very nature of what’s classic now,” said David Law, senior vice president at Allen Edmonds. “By working with authorities in their given field who share our passion for craft, we remaster our icons and explore the very definition of classics, which are the foundation of Allen Edmonds.”
Love this collaboration! It’s nice to see AE getting back into the specialty world! I’ve been trying to reach out to them for months. There is a void in the marketplace at this price point.