Designed in Hackney: illustration collective Le Gun have collaborated with footwear designer Tracey Neuls to create a range of shoes inspired by items discovered inside a suitcase in a Hackney basement.
Le Gun created a drawing based on the objects and the life of their imagined owner, and each shoe in the limited edition is covered by a different part of the image.
The interior of Tracey Neuls' Shoreditch shop is decorated with Le Gun's illustrations and their work is exhibited alongside the shoes.
The shop opened at the end of last year on Redchurch Street, beyond the Hackney border. Le Gun have their studio by London Fields and Neuls lives in Hackney too.
See all our stories about Tracey Neuls »
Here's some more information from LE GUN:
"Its of the trout tickling, dada loving, jazz pirate George Melly at a parade inspired by James Ensor's painting 'Entry of Christ' into Brussels. The LE GUN version is: The entry of Marvin Gaye into Brussels... Marvin Gaye is riding into town on a donkey. He spent a lot of time in Belgium trying to get off crack. We have done a series of drawings based around the contents of a suitcase we found in the basement of a masonic cobblers in Hackney, which we believe belonged to the late George Melly. The drawing reflects our affection for the often overlooked cultural suburb of Belgium. We like the idea of a young Belgian surrealist wearing our Tracey Neuls shoes while becoming slowly intoxicated at A La Mort Subite..." - LE GUN
Here's some more information from Tracey Neuls:
Tracey Neuls and LE GUN
Pioneering and of a single mind, Tracey Neuls choose her new shop where there is already great spirit and individuality - not unlike her original footwear. Building on the success of her West London Marylebone shop, she embarked on her second space - Eastside!
To celebrate this new venture, Tracey Neuls, famous for her creative collaborations has teamed up with the London illustration collective LE GUN.
Often described as ‘the gutter looking up to the sky’ LE GUN is responsible for some of the most thought provoking illustration work.‘Parade’ was one such piece that caught Neuls’ eye. “The idea of bringing the illustrative subject matter into movement via the actual body part was irresistible.”
LE GUN painted the shop walls in their signature style, ink in one hand paintbrush in the other - an instant freestyle application of meandering illustration. They treated the retail space like a gallery. The combination of using another artist's drawing with a Tracey Neuls shoe design makes for a perfect collaboration. It's an enjoyable experience seeing a drawing being translated onto a shoe. Neuls, known for her keen eye for detail saw the instant potential of translating the art work to textile. Each limited edition shoe has a different part of the drawing, so therefore tells a different part of the story. The print was recreated as wrapping paper, so the narrative continues inside and out!
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Designed in Hackney is a Dezeen initiative to showcase world-class architecture and design created in the borough, which is one of the five host boroughs for the London 2012 Olympic Games as well as being home to Dezeen’s offices. We’ll publish buildings, interiors and objects that have been designed in Hackney each day until the games this summer.
More information and details of how to get involved can be found at www.designedinhackney.com.