Converse (RED) Fall 2007; Africa’s NOT a country

The sneaker fiends over at Freshness have a thorough view of the upcoming Converse (RED) Fall 2007 collection. Converse has really used the RED opportunity as a new platform for their design and collaborative efforts which now include photographer Ricky Powell, and the Ramones. But one thing which really bothers me is that in her post on this collection, retrogurl writes a caption saying, “Many of the patterns and designs are inspired by African art work, the country PRODUCT (RED) benefits.” I don’t know whether the fact that retrogurl refers to Africa as a country reflects her own ignorance or Converse’s failure to properly communicate the theme behind the collection beyond the exciting designs. You would think that with all the effort that Converse is putting into the charity-based collection, the issue of whether the recipients of the charity reside in a country or on a continent would be clearly defined. I hope the AIDS issue is being pushed as hard as the search for new designs. Head over to Freshness for more images.