The DC Story: Chapter 2: A Creative Collective Ahead of Its Time
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In part two of a three-part docuseries by Highsnobiety, we explore how DC cultivated a creative collective of artists that paved the way for collaboration culture as we know it today.
As the story of DC’s humble beginnings in the mid-‘90s began to take shape and eventually formed an early blueprint for modern skate culture, the way in which the brand’s senior management approached working with artists was unprecedented at the time. DC co-founder Damon Way’s mantra to working with collaborators was always simple: let people who are good at what they’re doing take the reins. Because of the lack of readily available information, back then it all boiled down to pure creative alignment. “I think anything pre-Internet took a lot of work,” explained Way. “Music and fashion, all of it took digging and time. Skateboarding wasn’t corporate yet [and] streetwear was just starting to realize itself.”THE ARTIST PROJECTS
DC took its creative aspirations into reality in 2001 when they officially launched the Artist Projects sneaker initiative. Artist Projects’ mission was to capture the imagination embodied in the work of artists who’ve risen out of skate culture to critical acclaim. One of the creatives to emerge from this subculture is filmmaker and curator Aaron Rose, who’s credited by some for merging art and skateboarding together in a way where two worlds collided. “I think skateboarders and artists get along because they’re the same thing,” Rose explains. “Skateboarding is an inherently creative pursuit.”DC x KAWS
DC x SSUR
DC x SUPREME
DC x OBEY (SHEPARD FAIREY)
DC x AARON ROSE
DC x DAVE KINSEY
DC x PHIL FROST
DC x ANDY HOWELL
ALLEGED GALLERY
For most of the ‘90s through the early aughts, Rose’s infamous Alleged Gallery in the Lower East Side of New York went on to exhibit works from many up-and-coming artists from the art, skateboarding, graffiti, and fashion worlds. It was a breeding ground for hungry artists to spread some of the most vibrant American art produced in a generation. “At the time [Alleged] was the only gallery in the entire world that was showing art done by skateboarders,” revealed contemporary street artist Shepard Fairey. “I give Aaron [Rose] a lot of credit for doing something that blew the doors wide open for an entire culture.”GENUINE COLLABORATION
During the design process for his shoe, Fairey made it clear that his perspective as an artist would not be ignored and that it would be a genuine collaboration. He was drawn to DC in the first place because of the founders’ philosophy of building cool shit with likeminded people.“This whole wave, this whole movement, everything that’s happening in streetwear, all that started in the DC office.”
Aaron Rose