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David Bowie Photographer Mick Rock is Now Printing His Iconic Images on Shoes

Photographer Mick Rock’s images of David Bowie are some of the most famous in all of music history. Now, you can actually wear them on your feet.

The legendary eye recently partnered with e-commerce platform TheCollaboratory to produce a series of slip-on sneakers that shows off some of Rock’s most famous snaps of Bowie, from his Ziggy Stardust era and beyond. Each of the four styles is named after one of the music artist’s songs, like the Moonage Daydream, which shows Bowie as his Ziggy alter-ego (complete with the iconic astral sphere symbol on his forehead). For the collaboration, Rock gave the well-known backstage photo from 1973 a psychadelic shock of color and collage effect.

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david bowie, mick rock, mick rock david bowie, music, david bowie shoes

Another style, the Rebel Rebel, shows Bowie in another iconic image taken by Rock, also in 1973, for the artist’s “Pin Ups” album, which he released after retiring his Ziggy persona. On this style, Rock hand cut a series of this print to create a rip-art collage effect.

 

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david bowie, mick rock, mick rock david bowie, david bowie shoes, music, rock and roll

To buy: Mick Rock x TheCollaboratory Rebel Rebel slip-ons, $145.

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david bowie, mick rock, mick rock david bowie, music, david bowie shoes

To buy: Mick Rock x TheCollaboratory Starman slip-ons, $145.

All four print collages were then screen-printed onto sturdy canvas uppers on low-top slip-ons, which also have padded collars and elastic side accents.

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david bowie, mick rock, mick rock david bowie, david bowie shoes, music

To buy: Mick Rock x TheCollaboratory Hunky Dory slip-ons, $145.

“The shoes (are) something we have been discussing for years,” said TheCollaboratory’s chief collaboration officer Scott Fishkind, who is also the publisher, co-creative director and co-founder of the adjacent As If magazine. For its latest issue, the luxury biannual magazine tapped Rock to shoot actor Benicio del Toro. From there, actually producing the capsule collection began to materialize. “His work translates to fashion so well, and his subjects are iconic giants that we’ve all grown up with and have an emotional connection to,” added Fishkind. A portion of the proceeds from the limited-edition collection will go to various non-profits like the NAACP, Campaign Zero, the COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund for the WHO and NYC’s COVID-19 Emergency Relief Fund.

Behind and on the scene for decades, the photographer has become more of a household name in recent years, especially after Rock released “The Rise of David Bowie 1972-1973,” a coffee table tome by Taschen in 2015. A documentary on his life called “Shot! The Psycho-Spiritual Mantra of Rock” debuted at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2016, just a few months after Bowie’s death earlier that year. The Vice-produced film is now streaming on Netflix.

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