Forward thinking media platform FUTUREVVORLD takes on Mission: Deadstock, a vintage sneaker gallery that focuses on storytelling, personal connections, and environmental responsibility. The pop-up will be held at Extra Butter’s Lower East Side location.
The entire gallery is sourced from secondhand retailers and personal collections alike. You can expect to see contributions from industry leaders Jacques Slade, Sophia
Chang, Sam Le Roy, Bernie Gross, Bimma Williams, and more. Each of the featured curators will be displaying their favorite vintage sneakers, all of which will include a personal anecdote that signifies how the pair helped them to discover their love for sneakers, fashion, design, art, and culture.
FUTUREVVORLD is concerned that modern sneaker culture has lost its way, with people only buying sneakers for the sake of hype and trends. Mission: Deadstock hopes to inspire the new generation of sneakerheads to move closer to the foundational spirit of sneaker culture, where collections were personal and not an amalgam decided by an algorithm or reseller.
“In the late ‘90s and 2000s, in NYC, before sneaker culture was dictated by what plays out on the internet, I vividly recall walking into sneaker stores and stumbling upon silhouettes that I didn’t know existed. That element of discovery is currently missing from the equation,” explains Daniel Navetta, Co-Founder and Editor-in-Chief of FUTUREVVORLD. “As the sneaker community exploded, yielding a culture of nonstop ‘drops’ and groupthink, brands produced massive quantities of footwear and put a tremendous strain on the environment. Mission: Deadstock serves as an opportunity to remind us that the most responsible thing we can do is purchase some of the incredible stock that already exists in the marketplace. That offering doesn’t have to be boring either. Taking the time to unearth lesser known pairs can not only be a more responsible way to participate in sneaker culture, it can also reignite that forgotten euphoria of discovery and originality.”
The pop-up will feature 40 different pairs such as the Reebok Pump “Dee Brown,” the Nike Air Icarus, the And1 Tai Chi, the Nike Zvezdochka, the Converse REACT Aero Jam, the New Balance 990v3, the Reigning Champ x adidas Pure Boost, and so much more.
Mission: Deadstock will be on display at Extra Butter Lower Eastside on July 16th from 11 am to 7 pm, and July 17th from 12 pm to 6 pm. FUTUREVVORLD will be auctioning off pairs from the pop-up, with proceeds going to local charities that advocate for recycling and waste reduction within the fashion industry. The auction will be announced on FUTUREVVORLD.com. For more sneaker news and release dates, follow @NiceKicks on Instagram.
