Converse X JW Anderson's Toy Gallery
We worked with Converse and JW Anderson to bring their new collaboration to life.
We worked with Converse and JW Anderson to bring their new collaboration, Converse x JW Anderson Chuck 70 Toy, to life. Toy Gallery was a four day pop-up gallery themed around play and creation where everyone who came to the space was invited to get involved, showing how easy and accessible art can be.
Toys: Our earliest initiation to art: As the Converse x JW Anderson Chuck 70 Toy collection is inspired by art, this was the main point of reference for the pop-up as a gallery space. In creating the collection, JW Anderson was inspired by the Charles Baudelaire quote “The toy is the child’s earliest initiation to art” which became a main reference point for the pop-up. Converse has a long standing relationship with art too, it has long been a favorite sneaker of artists from Andy Warhol to Futura, so the celebration of art between both brands felt natural.
We wanted the Toy Gallery to reflect this, as well as the tactile nature of the shoes. We celebrated the collection by creating a gallery, but not as you would normally expect. The Toy Gallery was filled with bright colours, interesting materials and interactive moments to encourage visitors to become part of the artwork itself. We covered the full exterior of the building in an orange and red gradient, to reflect the arresting visuals of the shoe. As well as being a retail space, the gallery hosted art, talks, workshops and immersive experiences to further support the message of the gallery.
Working with Converse, we created a system of blocks to be used throughout the space to bring cohesion to the experience. These flexible blocks were used to create plinths, seating, and for interactive blocks that visitors were able to play with and create their own modular shapes in the space.
Fun and colourful branding. The branding for the Toy Gallery was inspired by the fun and colour of the shoes, as well as the traditional visual language of art galleries. This appeared within the space, across social channels, on printed collateral as well as gallery ‘merch’ including pencils, erasers, badges and an original print by Jordy van den Nieuwendijk which were given away within the space.
Programming: The pop-up came to life through programming in the space. Across the four days Toy Gallery hosted talks with writer, curator, and activist Kimberly Drew (aka Museummammy) and Arts & Culture Editor Ashleigh Kane. Female creative collective Babyface also hosted a panel on art, design and curation. We invited people to get creative too, with a ‘Zine making working hosted by Hato Press, inspired by Jonathan Anderson’s love of zines.
#ConversexJWAnderson: We created social content to spread the word of the pop-up, including teasers and Stories for the Converse Instagram Channel. We also captured the best street style looks over the four days, for the regular Converse Instagram feature ‘Spotted’.
Captured on tape. To share the collaboration with a wider audience globally on Converse’s YouTube channel, we worked with Pavilion Works to create a video which tells the story of the collection, its inspiration, and why the collaboration came to be. Narrated by Kimberly Drew, it follows her to the space, around London, and an interview with Jonathan Anderson.
Over the four days, Toy Gallery engaged both fashion and art followers, and enabled fans of both Converse and JW Anderson to come together to celebrate the new collection and all its inspirations in a colourful, fun and tactile way.
“Anyways are the epitome of team work; flexible, communicative, gracious and insanely talented. The pop up space was amazing, the events were so chill and so fun, and the content capture was top notch."
Client at Converse
Companies
Converse
- Fashion and Textiles
J.W. Anderson
- Fashion and Textiles