Drawing sneaker lovers and a collectors community – through one book – All Gone. After visiting Paris, London, Amsterdam and Rome, Malta was up next. The founder behind the All Gone collection, Michael Dupouy @michael_lamjc, arrived in Malta last week for an exclusive book signing which took place at Urban Jungle, The Point, Sliema. This was the second book signing after Dupouy visited Malta in 2020.
The exclusive annual publication documents the most sought-after products and art creations of street culture. The event beared witness to the tightly knit community – loving all that relates to sneakers and street culture.
This year’s book covers featured artwork from the popular NFT – Bored Ape Yacht Club community. Like many, Dupouy shares a fascination for the tremendous emergence of this community and explains how “the Bored Apes are THE graphic symbol of 2021, and they will remain in the collective imagination for eternity, as a marker of this era”.
Described by Highsnobiety as “the bible of streetwear, the book documents the best limited-edition releases of the last year”. From the coveted Birkenstock x Stüssy clogs to Supreme Dunk Low, and of course the aforementioned NFTs, All Gone may bring back painful memories of taking Ls, but it also serves as a time capsule for the culture, explains Highsnobiety.
All Gone has for the past 16 years evolved its selection of artefacts to be included in the yearly publication. Dupouy explains how, “deciding between projects that are unanimously accepted, those that strive for creativity, those that are lesser known but have much richer and more stimulating stories, those that now coexist in the real and virtual world…(was) not an easy task”. Surprisingly so, while the world goes through a period of unprecedented chaos All Gone has never had so many options to compose its pages. Showing that art is truly therapy for the soul in times of pain and uncertainty.
Dupouy explains how Street Culture has always been stimulated by adversity, perceiving it less as a barrier and more like an additional motivation to conquer oneself and move forward.
Michael Dupouy says there still is a place for collecting printed books and almanacs, as he believes they report what happened, to ensure that the past remains crystallized and available for the years to come. Claiming his differentiating factor is, in addition to gathering the story of an entire year of street culture in one book, he provides books to collect.
The exclusive book signing shared a limited number of copies and was attended by a mix of young artists and street culture devotees, who were chosen through a raffle. Brief refreshments were served accompanied by a Live DJ set by @carllautier and @Sara.Saidd.
For more info about All Gone click here.
