Pre-orders are now available for a remarkable collaboration between Young Chicago Authors and luxury leather sneaker brand Koio. The collaborative shoe features a poem (digitally printed on Koio’s Capri Triple White shoe) from Taisaun “T” Levi, the 2019 Indy winner of Louder Than A Bomb’s spoken-word contest.

Based in NYC with showrooms in Miami, LA and San Francisco, Koio’s Italian sneakers are handcrafted in Italy combining modern design, fine material and century-old techniques. Founded in 2001, Young Chicago Authors “helps young people from all backgrounds to understand the importance of their own stories and those of others, so that they can pursue the path they choose.” YCA collaborated with poet, dancer, photographer and visual artist Taisaun Levin from Chicago’s Englewood neighborhood for the shoe. Her work focuses on black struggles, black mental health and black living. Levi was also recently a speaker at Chicago Ideas. You can read and download the entire poem ‘Untitled 2018’ by Taisaun Levin via this link.

The collaboration and conversation began over a year and half ago and the release with originally planned for August 2020 to celebrate the start of a new school year. With the death of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Koio and YCA decided to release the shoe now, to take action to support community leaders dedicated to racial justice now. 100% of the proceeds of the shoe will be donated to organizations GoodKids MadCity, Black Lives Matter and Young Chicago Authors. Koio and YCA’s collective goal is to reach $25,000.

The shoes are available now for pre-order at Koio.co.

Stay tuned with Taisaun at @The_Human_Turtle and Koio at @Koio.