As part of the prestigious collaboration that Stary Browar has established with the London Design Museum, a unique exhibition ‘Sneakers Unboxed: Studio to Street’ powered by PRM can be seen in Poznań from 10 October. The exhibition in the Pop Culture Gallery @Stary Browar takes a closer look at the phenomenon of shoes, which have grown from utilitarian objects to become cultural icons and collector’s items. Archival models, limited editions, collector’s “white ravens” – this is a real treat not only for declared sneakerheads, but all users of cult sports shoes. The sponsor of the exhibition is the PRM brand, a unique fashion concept where luxury meets street style.
Few things are as versatile and diverse at the same time as sneakers. The exhibition at Stary Browar will present their history, cultural influence and design. The exhibition features several hundred exhibits: the first products of major international brands, pairs from the most sought-after collaborations, models created by fashion designers, innovative prototypes, as well as films, photos and materials proving that the phrase ‘sneaker culture’ is not an abuse.
The exhibition not only reaches back into history, but also answers the question of how major sneaker brands are designing the future and dealing with environmental challenges. Symbolic of the industry’s turn towards circularity will be a point in the gallery where it will be possible to donate a used pair of sneakers. An art installation will be created from the collected shoes.
Playing fields, streets, catwalks
From sports shoes to fashion icons – the first part of the exhibition at the brewery’s Pop Culture Gallery tells the story of this evolution. Initially, sneakers were designed exclusively for professional athletes. From the playing fields and treadmills, the shoes were seized onto the streets by young people in big cities and adopted as an element of personal style, a symbol of belonging to subcultures, a tool for expressing individuality. The growing demand and changing status of sneakers was picked up by manufacturers. Brands began to engage celebrities to design and promote the shoes and establish partnerships with niche streetwear boutiques around the world: from New York to Tokyo to Paris. The sports scene began a love affair with fashion that continues to this day. Luxury brands and avant-garde designers began to create their sneakers: Balenciaga, Rick Owens, Virgil Abloh, Vivienne Westwood, Craig Green, A-COLD-WALL*. Prestigious collaborations and limited editions have fuelled the growth of the collectors’ market. Examples of the most coveted pairs will be seen at the Poznan exhibition.
Design race
In the history of sneakers, cultural themes intertwine with innovations in the field of design. Designers have been searching for decades for solutions and technologies to improve the grip, cushioning and fit of sports shoes. The ‘Performance’ section of the exhibition will reveal the behind-the-scenes of the sneaker design process and key turning points in this fascinating field: the first Converse sneakers from the 1920s, the prototypes of New Balance running shoes, Nike’s experiments with the waffle sole, Puma’s smart self-lacing models, barefoot designs exploring the natural anatomical properties of the human foot and much more.
Long distance run
The race by manufacturers for the most efficient and ergonomic sneakers continues, but today the key challenge for designers is the issues of decarbonisation and the turn towards closed-loop. The infographics presented in the exhibition reveal the staggering scale of global production and the size of the sneaker market, suggesting a difficult question: is the industry starting to eat its own tail? The third section of the Pop Culture Gallery exhibition, under the theme ‘Sustainability’, presents the search for ways to reduce the negative effects of mass production and consumption. The key issues here are new materials, recycling and upcycling, but also the pursuit of changes in consumer awareness. A symbolic invitation by the curators and organisers of the exhibition at Stary Browar to this revolution will be a point in the gallery where it will be possible to donate a used pair of sneakers. A work of art will be created from the collected shoes, and the audience will become its co-author.
The exhibition “Sneakers Unboxed: Studio to Street” powered by PRM will open with an opening reception on 10 October at 7 p.m. The project, prepared in collaboration with the Design Museum in London and in partnership with the PRM brand, is part of a long-term programme of exhibitions at Pop Culture Gallery @Stary Browar (formerly Gallery at the Courtyard) dedicated to pop culture and fashion. The event is under the Honorary Patronage of the Mayor of Poznań, Jacek Jaskowiak.
“Sneakers Unboxed: Studio to Street” powered by PRM – exhibition
A touring exhibition from the Design Museum, London
Pop Culture Gallery @Stary Browar, Poznań
vernissage: 10 October 2024, at 19:00
exhibition open until 10 March 2025.
Honorary patronage of the Mayor of Poznań
Sponsor: PRM
Curator: Wojciech Piotr Onak / OCR Creations
Curator of the Design Museum London: Ligaya Salazar
Production: Joanna Tupalska and Marketing Department of Stary Browar
Poster author: Paweł Mildner
Information on admission tickets
- admission to the opening is free
- from 11.10 – tickets: pLN 40, to be purchased at the entrance to the exhibition
- promotion 1 1 free for pupils, students and seniors: Tuesdays to Thursdays
- tuesdays of the month – free entry
Ligaya Salazar, curator of the Design Museum in London:
“The Sneakers Unboxed: Studio to Street project reveals the role that young people from different backgrounds have played in establishing particular sneaker models as style icons, and their impact on the development of an industry that is now worth billions. The exhibition also offers a behind-the-scenes look at new upcycling and sustainable design practices, showcases previously unseen prototypes that herald the future in the field of performance design, and collaborations that combine streetwear and fashion that have changed the face of the industry.
Charlotte Bulté, Head of International Engagement, the Design Museum, London:
‘It has been a real pleasure to work with Pop Culture Gallery at Stary Browar on the Poznan edition of the Sneakers Unboxed exhibition. This is the first, we hope, of many joint projects between the Design Museum and Stary Browar. We are very pleased to be partnering with the gallery and working with the team, and above all to be able to celebrate sneaker culture together in Poland.
Wojtek Piotr Onak, curator of the Pop Culture Gallery @Stary Browar / OCR Creations exhibition:
Sneakers are part of our culture and everyday life, they have been accompanying us since we were young and… they are definitely a more comfortable alternative to Manolo Blahnik! The aim of this exhibition is to show the transformation of a utilitarian, everyday object into an object of desire and a work of art. We will show how strongly sneakers have influenced various social groups, how they have become a collector’s grail – kept in the original box and never worn. We will tell many stories, such as how music turned a subcultural trend from New York’s Harlem into one of the best marketing campaigns. You will discover how many disciplines and fields come together in a single pair of shoes: technology, material science, design, art, fashion, music, sports. Sneakers are now an indispensable part of high fashion, a manifesto of style and freedom – and it is precisely about the freedom to express oneself through fashion that all the exhibitions I have the pleasure of co-curating with Pop Culture Gallery @Stare Browar are about.
Joanna Tupalska, Marketing Director of Stary Browar, producer of the Pop Culture Gallery @Stary Browar exhibitions:
‘Sneakers Unboxed’ exhibition perfectly expresses the democratic and multidisciplinary nature of Pop Culture Gallery at Stary Browar. The story of sneaker culture is a colourful, immersive tale of cities, music, sport, fashion, creativity. Thanks to a collaboration with the Design Museum in London and curator Wojtek Piotr Onak, we have brought a unique collection of exhibits to Poznan, presenting the diversity, innovation and symbolism of sneakers created from the 1920s until today. The history of sneakers is also the history of creative collaborations, which is why I am glad that the Poznan edition of this project can be created together with the PRM team – a brand that keeps its finger on the pulse of sneaker and streetwear trends.
This exhibition opens another chapter in the history of our gallery. We have dressed it in new branding by the Poznań-based designer Agata Kulczyk and – now officially – named this space Pop Culture Gallery @Stary Browar. This place is the cultural heart of Stary Browar, the “cherry on the trout” of its uniqueness – as we will show in the new visual communication.
Kamil Bajołek, PRM Brand Director:
‘Sneakers Unboxed: Studio to Street’ exhibition as the first global retrospective presents the history of sneakers, one of the main pillars of the PRM brand. We are proud that our home-grown Pop Culture Gallery has been honoured by the Design Museum in London to be the only one in the region to host such a unique exhibition. Partnering with Stary Browar on this project was a natural decision for us, a business where unique sneakers are an extremely important part of the offer.
Kaja Wrzeszcz, PRM Marketing Director:
The collection of iconic and iconic lifestyle collaborations takes visitors on an extraordinary journey, both educational and inspirational, showcasing the phenomenon of footwear that has revolutionised the fashion world. Sneakers have become a symbol of our times, thriving at the intersection of design and subcultures – that is, the studio and the street – totally popularising exclusivity and combining these two worlds just as we at PRM strive to intertwine them in order to consciously conduct business through the prism of culture.
Design Museum, London
The Design Museum is a multidisciplinary museum and living space for education and exploration of new ideas by the public and designers. Also a charity, the museum demonstrates through innovative exhibitions, partnerships, research and education programmes how design can support the development of our planet and its people. The Design Museum’s distinctive Kensington headquarters building is the centre of a national network and a global design hub with transformative potential.
designmuseum.org
Pop Culture Gallery @Stary Browar
Pop culture, creativity, freedom – these are key elements of Pop Culture Gallery @Stary Browar’s curatorial concept. The gallery runs a year-round programme of interdisciplinary exhibitions combining fashion, art, technology and craft. Pop Culture Gallery is the cultural heart of Stary Browar and a highly regarded institution in Poland and internationally, promoting the achievements and ideas of visionaries: fashion designers, artists, performers, inventors. In recent years, the gallery has hosted exhibitions by world-renowned artists: Björk, David LaChapelle, Daniel Lismore, Iris van Herpen, Gianni Versace, as well as Polish artists such as Ryszard Kaja, Noriaki or artists from the Polish Poster School circle. The quality of the exhibitions held in the Pop Culture Gallery space is defined not only by the uniqueness of the exhibits and ambitious curatorial concepts, but also by the creative, spectacular arrangements. Thanks to its unusual location in the stylish complex of the iconic shopping centre Stary Browar, the gallery attracts a diverse, wide-ranging audience from all generations.
