“Icons live forever” is a statement that especially rings true for the late Jean-Michel Basquiat whose everlasting art work maintains a wide-ranging scope of influence to this day. The half Haitian, half Puerto Rican artist who rose to international fame in the ‘80s for his distinguished Neo-expressionist paintings has a body of work that’s often recast into fashionable modern consumer goods and household commodities. The latest brand to join that list is CASETiFY; the customized tech accessory retailer collaborated with the high-profile painter’s estate to adorn a newly-released line of cases.
The graffiti-inspired paintings and drawings contain subversive social commentary—which pay tribute to many other contemporary Black icons across several mediums—can be seen in array of overlays on the canvas and leather material tech hard-covers with some of Basquiat’s iconic works including “Self-portrait,” and “Beat Bop.”
The line of accessories will be available on June 29. This is likely far from being the last rendition of Basquiat’s enduring legacy and certainly not the first. This new collection warrants a look at some other retrospective and re-inventive tributes to one of the best celebrated and most marketable modern painters of our lifetime. Here are seven other collabs of note:
Coach x Basquiat
For their fall 2020 collection, Coach, the American luxury design house specializing in handbags and luggage, debuted their Basquiat collaboration. It featured a campaign full of star-studded celebrities who were seen sporting the collection’s range of hand bags, sweaters, and trench coats. The high-fashion collaboration struck a contentious chord for some who questioned the distinction between celebratory tribute versus corporate exploitation of the late creative prodigy’s work.
Wacko Maria x Basquiat
The Japanese streetwear brand, founded in 2005 is among the latest brands to debut a 2021 collaboration with Basquiat’s estate. Wacko Maria features Basquiat’s boldly-splashed prints across multi-color Hawaiian shirts for Spring/Summer ready style.
Uniqlo: Basquiat x Warner Bros
The hotly-anticipated release of The Batman starring Robert Pattinson, inspired a 2020 collaboration with Warner Bros for Uniqlo that showcased Basquiat’s rarely seen drawings of his most beloved DC comic book heroes from his youth. Hoodies with graphic prints of Basquiat signature style drawings reinterpreted superhero icons such as Batman, The Joker, Flash, Superman and more.
The Skater Room x Basquiat
Pairing skate culture with street art, The Skater Room, a socially conscious driven skateboard shop, released skateboards priced from $550-$810 of eight different Basquiat paintings printed onto their line of 24 skate decks.
Supreme x Basquiat
The popular skate-inspired life and streetwear brand launched their Fall/Winter 2013 capsule collection that opted for a more minimalist style feature of Basquiat’s artistic scratchings and writings and tapped his famed Casius Clay illustration to decorate solid color button down shirts and hoodies.
Dr. Martens x Basquiat
The British footwear and clothing brand known for their counter culture leather combat boots celebrated their take on Basquiat’s art to emphasize their edgy style shoe-wear. His art canvases decorate the Doc Marten white and black 1460 and 1461 boots in a campaign that pays tribute to the prolific artist’s hip-hop influenced, New York City upbringing.