Artwork of Frida Kahlo featured on sneakers

Costa Mesa-based serial collaborator Vans announced recently that a trio of sneakers featuring the artwork of renowned Mexican painter Frida Kahlo are set to hit retail on Saturday, June 29.

The Vault by Vans X Frida Kahlo collection includes an OG Slip-On LX bearing the artist’s likeness from “Self-Portrait with Necklace of Thorns” (1940); an OG Authentic LX with an allover watermelon print harvested from her “Viva la Vida, Watermelons” (painted in 1954, the year she died) with the paintings words “viva la vida” embroidered in watermelon-colored thread on the side; and an OG Sk8-Hi LX with a green toecap that bears her likeness — twice — because the images are plucked from “The Two Fridas” (1939). 

The footwear was created under a licensing deal between VF Corp.-owned Vans and the Frida Kahlo Corp., which has given the OK to a range of Frida-themed goods over the years (including a Barbie doll that raised the ire of the late artist’s relatives).

Past art-focused collaborations from Vans have featured the work of Van Gogh, Murikami, R. Crumb and, earlier this year, Ralph Steadman, the illustrator best known for the splashy, hallucinogenic work he created to bring Hunter S. Thompson’s written words to life.

Tribune News Service