Shepard Fairey: From Obey to Obama to Levi's
Don't look now, but in the near future it might just become chic to sport a Levi's jean jacket — the folks at Levi Strauss & Co. have been making a concerted effort to bring an aura of hipness to their brand. What better way to accomplish that task than by partnering up on a project with renowned L.A. graphic artist/designer Shepard Fairey? The company has gotten Fairey — famed for everything from his Obey series to his 2008 Obama Hope poster -- to design a new line of jean jackets for them, along with street artist André Saraiva. Each artist has contributed a design that pushes Levi's iconography to a new level for a new era.
The involvement of Fairey and Portugal-born/Paris-based Saraiva is part of a Franco-American theme revolving around the opening of the first Levi's store in Paris. "Liberté, Égalité, Melodie," Fairey's adaptation of the famous French slogan, is at the center of his design, and it fits right in with the overarching theme. Both Fairey's and Saraiva's jackets will be made exclusively available at the Paris store for its launch on June 14. But the artists' involvement doesn't end there — they'll both be donning their DJ hats to step behind the decks for some celebrity spinning at the inauguration of the store.
