Playground - The design of sneakers

Through a selection of around fifty emblematic iconic models from 1900 to the modern day, the visitors discover the key markers of what constitutes the history of the sneaker. Worn by sports stars, demonstrating breakthrough technological innovation, promoted by famous rappers or skaters, or produced by major fashion designers, stylists or iconic artists – each of the selected models has a story to tell. They reflect a moment in time, an era or a social phenomenon.

Then the exhibition allows visitors to discover the story behind this rise. Long the preserve of the sporting arena, sneakers gradually expanded beyond this field to play a major role in urban culture and fashion. The transfer from sport to street is closely linked to emerging counter-cultures in the United States and Europe in the 1970s. Symbols of rebellion against conformity, tools of distinction for hip-hop and break-dancing icons, or of social and cultural affirmation for certain minorities, sneakers could soon be found on everyone’s feet. But the archetypal democratic sneaker becomes in the 1980s the object of all desire. Prices flame and Sports Illustrated magazine headlined “your sneakers or your life” in the 1990s. Films, photos and testimonies trace this dazzling success.

The second part of the exhibition will look back at the key innovations that have shaped the history of the sneaker industry since its inception. Visitors will discover the research carried out by major brands’ dedicated departments that, for many years, have been engaged in a race to bring new technologies to market. This trend today addresses the imperatives of ethical fashion and sustainability and inspires the imagination of students at leading fashion schools.

Key figures in the world of sneakers will take centre stage, including collectors (so-called “sneakerheads”) and designers who have contributed to the biggest successes – names like Jacques Chassaing, designer at adidas since 1981 and the brains behind the Forum basketball shoe, among others, and Tinker Hatfield, the designer of the Nike Air Max 1 and the ultra-famous Nike MAG from the film Back to the Future Part II.

With the participation of major brands archives and reference institutions, more than 60 lenders and more than 600 pairs and documents presented, Playground is the first exhibition of this scale in Europe to present this cultural phenomenon.

The catalogue of the exhibition
Published in French and in English (MADD Bordeaux and Norma Editions), the exhibition catalog brings together articles and interviews from specialists in sneakers, fashion, dance and sustainable development: Patrick Bolze et Félix Willenbrik (BASF), Jacques Chassaing, Jason Coles, Arnaud Dedieu, Pierre Demoux, Arthur Fosse, Thomas Huot-Marchand, Annabelle Laurent, Samuel Mantelet, Bill McInnis, Peter Moore, Patricia Reymond, Constance Rubini, Alexandre Samson, Oliver Stratford, Alexander Taylor, Etienne Tornier et Marie-Christine Vernay.
256 pages - 39 € - On sale at the museum and on the Norma Editions website

This catalogue is published with the support of Château Lafite Rothschild

ART COMMITTEE

In order to provide the expertise and knowledge of specialists and collectors in this field, an artistic committee has been constituted, under the coordination of Constance Rubini.

- Jacques Chassaing, footwear designer at Adidas since 1981. He is the designer of several iconic models such as the Forum basketball shoe and the Running ZX.

- Pierre Demoux, author of L'Odyssée de la Basket (Éditions La tengo, 2019) and journalist at LesÉchos since 2009.

-  Thibaut de Longeville, sneakers specialist, author of the documentaries Sneakers, le culte des baskets and Air Force 1 : Le Documentaire presented in the exhibition. Founder of the 360creative, audiovisual production company and graphic design agency based in Paris.

- Samuel Mantelet, expert in sneaker culture, consultant in marketing and communication and co founder of the association Sneakers EMPIRE .

- Teddy Sanches, designer and artistic director. Winner of the Audi Talents 2019, director of a film produced for the exhibition on the connections between Hip Hop culture and sneakers.

- Alexander Taylor, industrial designer and consultant for Adidas since 2008. He has developed the Primeknit technology and has been involved in the brand's collaboration with the environmental organization Parley for the Oceans.