SheOne Interview - Pele Sports

SheOne Interview - Pele Sports

Pele Sports recently commissioned British grafitti artist SheOne for a collaboration that fuses the technologically-advanced Trinity 3E with the bold strokes and abstract lettering of SheOne's art. In an exclusive interview we spoke to SheOne for his take on this unique collaboration, and his thoughts on transferring his style onto the canvas of a football boot...

James Choules, who adopts the alter-ego of SHEONE, is known for his bold expressive approach to image making. Billed as one of the scenes 'leading cultural artists', his work is deeply rooted in the early eighties era of New York graffiti. He now brings his abstract style exclusively to the PelÉ Sports Trinity 3E.

How would you describe your style as a graffiti artist?

 

SheOne: I discovered Graffiti as a fully formed culture on the New York Subways n the mid 1980's, I was inspired by the concept of spray-painting a name in public, and so I have been abstracting that idea ever since.

 

With commercial work, how do you begin to think out a project?

SheOne: Firstly I have to be sure that we are going to create something completely new, then it is a question of finding the best balance between the product and my own work so that they work in harmony.

 

What were your first thoughts when Pele Sports asked you to be involved in this project? SheOne: I jumped at the chance, it was a really exciting project to approach, firstly to work with such an iconic name in football and secondly to see my work in a completely new arena. How does the end result differ when you're working with product as opposed to a print? SheOne: With product you are restricted to the size and the production process of the boot. I had a relatively small canvas to work with and a fixed complex shape, so I had to scale my trademark style to this and also consider how it would work in all dimensions once the boot is made and laced up.

 

How did you find transferring your style onto the canvas of a football boot?

 

SheOne: I took the idea of quick passing and movement, I wanted the boot design to have a lot of energy built in, to reflect that technical style of playing. I photograph details from my paintings and scale these down in the computer to arrive at the final design.

 

You've worked on a few product collabs with sneaker brands. How did this compare?

SheOne: This was the most complex in terms of the technology required to construct the boot, and artistically it is definitely one of my favourites, because the boots are functional, they will be used to play, cant wait to see them on the pitch.

 

 

How long did the design process take?

SheOne: I have hand painted sneakers before for exhibition, so I had a very definite idea in my head of how I wanted the final design to look, then it took several days to create the shapes from original paintings and make them fit in the template of the boot.

How does it feel to see someone wearing your work?

 

SheOne: It is very humbling actually, I have seen people wearing my jackets or T-shirts all over the world and it is like seeing one of my paintings walking around on the street.

Skateboard companies were the first to embrace graffiti artists. Would you like to see football brands adopt a similar style?

 

SheOne: I think these days, Graffiti has been used by so many diverse brands and products, from car advertising to luxury goods that it is a logical step for football brands to follow suit. Graffiti is a universal language, it is prominent in all major cities and is part of the everyday visual story.

 

Would you consider future design work with Pele Sports?

SheOne: Absolutely, if the product was right and we had a great concept to produce something unique then yes definitely. I would like to do a goalkeeper kit and gloves, could be good.

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