Claw's Vandal for Nike drops this month

Prolific and multi-talented New York graf artist Claw Money has re-interpretated her favourite Nike trainer of all time, the Vandal, and her version is set to drop this month. Claw has designed two shoes for Nike, the first, the Blazer (pictured), was released in the summer but it is this second shoe that has got the former fashion student so excited. This is also the first time that trainer giant Nike has collaborated with a female artist.

Claw was born in Queens and raised in Long Island. After dropping out of the Fashion Institute of Technology, Claw began bombing with legendary writers and founded graff crew PMS. She stopped bombing a few years back, launched her own clothes and accessories label the eponympous Claw Money in 2002, is fashion editor of Swindle magazine and is a stylist and consultant for various brands. She's immortalised her signature claw tag into cushions, integrated it into her 'bombers for bombers' jacket line, for which she also mixes her claws symbols with oversized Chanel chains and pays homage to Hermes. February 2007 saw the publication of her own book, Bombshell: The Life and Crimes of Claw Money in which she mixes photos, stickers and scrapbook-style ephemera from her street world with personal references to her own "middle class Jewish" background.

Summer 2007 also saw the release of Claw's own sunglasses. In the days when she was sill bombing, Claws was arrested on three occasions and confesses she was caught about 20 times but managed to "talk my way out of it." Being a girl in the graf world does have the advantage that people have been less suspicious of her so she's got away with more graf than most. In 2005 she was one of six American graf artists to be featured in a DVD, 'Infamy', which portraying the country's most prolific graffers.

Claw Money's Vandal shoe features a peacock feather which is according to the woman hersel inspired by British designer Vivienne Westwood. Claws heard that once Vivienne said she was no ordinary bird, but "a peacock." Claws has kept the idea in her creative back pocket and pulled it out for the Nike shoe.

www.clawmoney.com

Update: Thursday 1st November, 1.39pm, just heard they are to drop into Foot Patrol and Dover Street Market on Friday November 9th. She is coming to London on Thursday November 8 and I have been invited to meet her so will have some more on this next week. You can also buy her matching peacock feather sweatshirts from Claw's personal website, www.clawmoney.com. The second style went on sale in US on October 27th.