By Cassell Ferere originally published on Forbes.com

Art Basel Miami Beach was home to many works of art, as it has each year since 2002. Additionally, other markets have seen the art world as a catalyst for cultural connection. Brands have found avenues among the crowded streets of Wynwood and Miami Beach for pop-up shop openings, exclusive capsule collections, and NFT drops.

Collaborations with curators, car companies, Web3 native brands, pop-up shops from Web3, and fashion brands alike, with NFTs for everyone to access, have all found their place among the galleries. The traditional art exhibits, filled with art lovers and modern hype seekers, got to experience the fashion, coming in at a more reasonable price point for purchasing.

On Friday, December 2nd, Clarks Originals celebrated the launch of the debut collaboration “Floor Seats” Wallabee, co-designed by the Compound agency founder and creative director Set Free Richardson. The Art Basel event and drop was held at the retail and event space UNKNWN in Wynwood, where the shoe was the main attraction. The design inspiration is courtside fashion and basketball, in collaboration with Compound. The exclusive pair of “Floor Seats” was available by purchasing a carbon-neutral NFT drop with art from painter BK the Artist, only at Art Basel Miami.

“The collaboration space is really crowded with [a lot of] people - doing a lot. I went the opposite,” describes Compoun founder Set Free Richardson about the Wallabee collaboration. “I kept it really clean [like the] great detail in the perforated leather - vintage basketball, filled with perforated dots on the top and the bottom. A seven on it is minimal with matte branding on the back. I wanted people to have something that had a ‘New York state of mind.’ And comes with two [additional] pairs of shoelaces.”

He continues, “a brown shoe with green shoelaces ties us back to the ‘beef and broccoli’ [Timberland boot], what we grew up on, and on the other side is the pink lace. I wanted something people feel like they could rock if it were cold weather or light rain. And the beeswax could protect them against all that.”

Richardson has much experience working with brands and people. The nuances of his collaboration have a foundation in basketball, leading to the ethos of the “Floor Seats” shoe. “I did collaborations in the past with steel companies. I worked with [a lot of] people on collaborations - as a ‘ghost’ collaborator, like ghostwriters in the music industry. I feel like art is everything, from the way Kyrie Irving dribbles is an art, to the way Steph Carrie shoots - that's art. Then you connect that back to hip-hop - art, period.” Richardson makes it an art to collaborate with him, presenting a gleaming new take on the Wallabee seen from a display case on the UNKNWN showroom floor.

The Web3, art, and fashion communities came together with the help of founder RarityJan of Dopamine, a curator for Streetwear+ for culture-creating Web3 labels and artists. A conceptualized progressive streetwear and fashion experience offering digital and physical merchandise, the Dopamine pop–up shop was an interactive art display. 

The appearance of ASAP Rocky and Trippie Redd at the Dopamine "WTF IS STREETWEAR+" pop-up shop opening in Wynwood was a treat for fans of the Web3 native brand. Founder Jan and the two rap stars discussed the Streetwear+ technology and viewed the Dopamine launch collection. The all-day event featured physical and digital collaborative merchandise from partners like KidSuper, Fvckrender, ThankYouX, Nouns DAO, and Dopamine's streetwear items.

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