On September 21 in Paris, visionary footwear brand PHILEO raises the curtain on a site-specific installation by luminary Tadashi Kawamata within the verdant courtyard of Dover Street Market Paris, on view through October 5. In dynamic collaboration with the premier Mennour art gallery and ever-iconic adidas, Avalanche (2024) stands as a sweeping creative gem deeply energized by designer Philéo Landowski’s architectural prowess in cutting-edge footwear.
Photo by Tom Dagnas, courtesy of Dover Street Market Paris.
Organic and Recycled Elements Ebb and Flow in Tadashi Kawamata’s Latest Installation
In a sculptural symphony of dimension, form, and material, the intimate space—set off by COMME des GARÇONS’s pillars—is seamlessly transformed with the ultimate regard for its rich historical origins. Both organic and recycled elements ebb and flow throughout the must-see installation at 35-37 rue des Francs Bourgeois, invoking the meticulous and thoughtful artistic practices of both cultural figureheads.
Photo by Tom Dagnas, courtesy of Dover Street Market Paris.
Photo by Tom Dagnas, courtesy of Dover Street Market Paris.
Honoring Creativity and Community in Paris with Mennour and Philéo Landowski
“Taking liberties with the existing while respecting it is also what I like to do with shoes,” said Landowski. “By using volume, I deform and reinterpret the classics to take them elsewhere, to turn them into something.”
Photo by Tom Dagnas, courtesy of Dover Street Market Paris.
In this imaginative vein, Mennour, the leading gallery of the 6th and 8th arrondissements, partners with the vibrant, multi-faceted endeavor. This collaboration speaks to Landowski’s adoration for the neighborhood in which he grew up, the area in which his grandfather founded a notable art bookstore, as well as the tender sphere in which the PHILEO founder’s close-knit creative community has blossomed.
“Taking liberties with the existing while respecting it is also what I like to do with shoes,”
— Philéo Landowski
The Adidas Superstar Sneaker Newly Soars with PHILEO’s Artisans and Kawamata’s Vision
Photo by Tom Dagnas, courtesy of Dover Street Market Paris.
Photo by Tom Dagnas, courtesy of Dover Street Market Paris.
In addition, adidas joins the inspiring project as an ongoing investment in the global artistic landscape. PHILEO revitalizes the legendary adidas Superstar sneaker with the flair of the Parisian brand’s Artisanale line, as well as unites with masterful artisans hailing from Portugal to hand-paint new editions in the poetic style of Kawamata.
Who is Artist Tadashi Kawamata?
Photo by Tom Dagnas, courtesy of Dover Street Market Paris.
Born in 1953 in Hokkaido (Japan), Tadashi Kawamata now lives and works in Tokyo (Japan) and Paris (France), after exploring NYC (United States). Since his days as a student of painting, in the 1970s, Tadashi Kawamata has been on an artistic journey that is remarkable for its lack of complacency. Taking nothing for granted, he engages us in a process that involves close consideration of the kinds of environments we make for ourselves, thereby raising questions of all-too-human need and desire. Kawamata’s gestures and materials, given the contexts within which they occur, are always smartly chosen.
Tadashi Kawamata is indeed famous for his in situ interventions, assembled from, among other things, wooden planks, chairs and barrels. Whether built up into fragile Babylonian constructions, tree huts, roof installations or stretched out to form serpentine, his works offer, to those who experiment them, climb up onto them or set foot on them, another point of view – in every sense – over the place in which they are situated. — via Mennour
Persistence of Vision at PHILEO
PHILEO presents an architectured vision on footwear. Enchanted by the mystique hidden in dynamic engineering, or the spirit evoked by machine movement – playing with the Sublime. “Persistance of Vision” may be the notion that overall encapsulates PHILEOs overall aesthetic best: the apparent fiery trail of a burning stick while it is whirled around in the dark, or the dynamic persistence of fast-moving vehicles in the human eye after they are already in a different place. As such, PHILEO design brings simultaneously timeless and rather contemporary shapes, oscillating between the mechanik and the transcendent.
Philéo Landowski grew up in a peculiar milieu of Parisian philosophers, authors, and artists. When only 13 years old he founded his first brand, called Bunker Scootering, with the designer Flavien Mollard, before stopping his formal education at the age of 16. Philéo thereafter opted to educate himself strictly by experience.
Today the brand is present in over 35 high-end footwear and fashion stores across Asia and Europe – including SSENSE, Dover Street Markets, and LN-CC. — via Phielo
Photo by Tom Dagnas, courtesy of Dover Street Market Paris.
Photo by Tom Dagnas, courtesy of Dover Street Market Paris.
Dover Street Market Paris as More than a Shop
DSMP is not just a shop. DSMP is a building in which to build. It seems more and more a time to pursue the end of borders and classifications. Connections are at the core of humankind. DSMP is like a helix, a diagrammatic manifestation of various connected activities making an integrated whole. The building will contain a store, spaces for art, communication and community, and offices and showrooms for developing brands. — via Dover Street Market
Photo by Tom Dagnas, courtesy of Dover Street Market Paris.
Photo by Tom Dagnas, courtesy of Dover Street Market Paris.
