Written by Menswear Style in News on the 12th May 2015

After successful launches in Shanghai and Milan earlier this year, Clarks: Rebooted, a touring exhibition of contemporary British art and design comes to citizenM Times Square in New York City from 14 – 18 May, 2015 to coincide with Frieze New York and NYCxDESIGN. Clarks: Rebooted, in partnership with landmine removal charity The HALO Trust, celebrates 65 years of the iconic Clarks Desert Boot this year.

Clarks: Rebooted gathers the talent of 14 leading British and UK-based artists and designers from a broad range of creative disciplines to work outside their usual media and create a limited edition style Desert Boot and a corresponding unique art work that freely re-interprets this iconic shoe.

The unique works of art, from paintings to sculpture, from furniture to fashion, will be set against the backdrop of citizenM’s colourful hotel lobby and its own extensive contemporary art collection. The exhibition concept has been designed by London based Creative Directors Campbell + Rey and the art works and limited boots were curated by Filippo Tattoni-Marcozzi. 

Each participating artist and designer was given a shoe box as an inspirational steer, the contents of which included a pair of Clarks Desert Boots, material swatches, a pattern layout, background on the story of the Clarks brand, the unique history of the Clarks Desert Boot and information on the work of The HALO Trust.

Only 250 pairs of each Desert Boot design are available to purchase at clarksrebooted.com. This initiative will see Clarks pay 5% of the RRP of each pair of limited edition Desert Boots, which equates to £15 per pair, to The HALO Trust (registered charity number 1001813). The profits from a special fundraising auction of the unique art works will also be donated for the benefit of the chosen charity. Online bidding for the auction, powered by Paddle8, will open three weeks prior to a gala event in London in November 2015.

For Clarks, it was important to continue the brand’s charity work into 2015, as the company celebrates the 65th year of the Desert Boot and the 190th anniversary of the brand. To do this, Clarks wanted to work with a British charity which stood out as being a great fit with their iconic boot and that matched the brand’s values. 

The world’s leading humanitarian landmine removal organisation, was chosen as the charity partnership for 2015, because of their global work ensuring the safety of millions of lives around the world. There was a natural fit, as the Clarks Desert Boot began life in a conflict zone of the Second World War and continues to be worn in challenging environments around the world today.

Amanda Pullinger, Chairman of the Board from The HALO Trust says: “The HALO Trust recently marked a quarter of a century of pioneering work clearing landmines from war-torn countries. The association with Clarks, our first UK corporate partner, will help to fund training, equipment and resources to get more landmines out of the ground more quickly so that some of the world’s most vulnerable people can plant their crops, rebuild their homes and raise their families in safety." 

Melissa Potter, Clarks CEO comments: “We are proud to be working with such a prestigious charity as The HALO Trust, to help us celebrate the Desert Boot’s 65th anniversary. As a brand we have a long standing history of giving back to charitable causes and we look forward to our relationship with The HALO Trust evolving as this exciting artist collaboration unfolds.”

After New York, Clarks: Rebooted will be returning to Clarks’ home country capital city in September for London’s "cultural period" – London Fashion Week, London Design Festival and Frieze London followed by a gala auction event in late Fall 2015.

To raise money at a forthcoming London gala auction Clarks Originals + The Halo Trust team up for an initiative titled Clarks Rebooted.