Popular Chicago footwear startup BucketFeet has been planning other product offerings for a while now. BucketFeet, which uses its network of artists from all over the world to create one-of-a-kind sneakers, has sold only low-top shoes since it launched in 2011. But starting this fall the company will launch its first mid-top shoe, and they are using the design from one of their most popular artists who also happens to be the creator of Chance The Rapper's album art.
Brandon Breaux worked with BucketFeet in 2012 to create the Desperado, a low-top with a burnt orange soul inspired by topography maps. That shoe has been developed into a mid-top that will be available on September 26. Breaux, who has his own clothing brand, said the partnership with BucketFeet has been beneficial in raising his brand awareness and has gotten his artwork in more people's hands.
"[BucketFeet] gives artists a little bit of a further reach if you don’t have it already," Breaux said. "It also gives you an opportunity to earn some income off of different types of products with your art on it."
BucketFeet has given Breaux a chance to interact with customers at events like its in-store artist in residence party earlier this month and next month at Lollapalooza where Breaux will be doing live art at the company's Lolla shop. The Desperado has been one of BucketFeet's best selling shoes, and Co-Founder Raaja Nemani said the design was an obvious choice to launch the company's first mid-top.
"Brandon is an extremely talented artist and created a low-top that has performed very well," Nemani said. "We felt his artwork would translate very well into a mid-top as well. Not to mention, he’s from Chicago and this gives his fans a chance to wear his shoe in the fall and winter."
As BucketFeet's current "artist in residence" at the 108 N. State Street location, not only is Breaux's shoe on display but some of his artwork is showcased on the wall as well. Included in that display is a well known piece of art to Chicagoans and rap music fans: Chance The Rapper's Acid Rap album art.
Chance's management team contacted Breaux after he worked on album art for Christian Rich, a Chicago born duo based in L.A. Breaux was mostly creating album art for close friends and a few other artists, but Chance liked what he saw and Breaux created the art for 10 Day, Chance's 2012 mixtape. After the positive response to the artwork on 10 Day, Chance brought Breaux into the studio during the making of Acid Rap and commissioned Breaux for the 2013's album artwork. Inspired by what he heard, Breaux went to work creating the now-iconic album of one of Chicago's biggest rappers.
"I heard his music and I heard how the delivery was different," Breaux said. "And I knew it would stand out. You know it's different. You know it's something special ... When you're inspired by something, it creates a condition for you to really be able to give the best of what you have. I think it's very important really looking for those moments and looking for the things and the work that inspires you to create."
In an industry that was using primarily photographs as album art, Breaux helped introduce painted portraits to rap albums. After 10 Day, more and more rappers started using similar styles for their albums, including Drake's 2013 album "Nothing Was the Same" which looked very similar to 10 Day.
"I didn’t realize how big of an impact [the artwork] would have on music," Breaux said. "It impacted music in a huge way because soon after you started seeing a lot of artists that instead of photos, which they were doing before that, they were having painted portraits of themselves on albums. Even Drake. Drake almost took the concept directly from the 10 Day album, with the clouds in the background and the whole thing. I think it's just cool to see that you have that impact. And it's really going through all of art and touching all of music, in a way."
Breaux especially admires Chance The Rapper in the fact that he's an independent artist becoming more popular than many other performers who have multi-million dollar music labels behind them, he said.
"It's the power of the internet," Breaux said. "And it's showing that people don’t need the industry as much as they used to."
Like Chance, Breaux is also bucking the traditional path to stardom by using BucketFeet to reaching a wider audience.
"If you’re doing something for a client in a sea full of people doing the same thing, it has to stand out. It has to be something that's done in a different way than everything else so people get it."
