FAITH CONNEXION DEBUTS COLLABORATION WITH SWIZZ BEATS AND NINA CHANEL
For the latest collection, Faith Connexion continues to blur the lines between art and fashion. A fresh collaboration with American hip hop rapper, DJ and record producer Swizz Beatz and artist Nina Chanel takes the brand’s propensity for hi-lo contrast to a new level.
Grammy award-winning producer and art collector Swizz Beatz is the catalyst behind this meeting of minds. His “No Commission” project is dedicated to making art more accessible while also tearing down barriers for young artists. It was during the Bronx edition of No Commission that Nina Chanel, a contemporary Afro-American artist, began to make her waves in the art scene. Referring to her colorful and graphic frescoes, which explore notions of gender, identity and politics, Nina explains that her work is “easy to swallow, difficult to digest”.
For the upcoming collection, Nina launches her capsule into the Faith Connexion universe, joining the brand’s collective of creatives, composed of designers, taggers and renowned visual artists. By inviting Nina to collaborate, Faith Connexion puts a new twist on the No Commission concept: her art becomes even more accessible when transposed to the medium of the brand’s signature sportswear silhouettes.
The capsule imbues some of the house’s iconic pieces with new meaning, adorning them with motifs created by Nina. The print echoes Nina’s own work, which addresses sensitive topics and invites the viewer to draw his own conclusions. An X, affixed to a mouth and preventing speech; or backed by an eagle, reminiscent of the symbol of the United States. We see faces, silhouettes… eyes that follow us. We find traces of Nina’s 2015 Always a Winner series, which evoked the police misconduct at the origin of the Black Lives Matter movement. It’s clothing as art, as self-expression, as a political statement.
A longtime friend of the house, Swizz “love(s) being partners with Faith because it’s the brand of freedom and of the future”. With this first in a new series of curated collaborations, Faith Connexion and Swizz Beatz have put the artist at the heart of the network, fusing music, art and fashion into one.
