Vested Interests
> Exploration is Mandatory
Independently, TENT has launched philanthropic events, designed building interiors, and created a line of footwear that debuted at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art.
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Project:
Original shoe line with artist Vincent Valdez
Location:
Houston, Los Angeles, Xiamen/China
Services:
Shoe Design
Overseas Manufacturing
Experiential/Lifestyle Opps
Sales
Result:
The line was featured in Footwear News and debuted at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art. The shoes have been worn by Annie Lennox, Whoopi Goldberg, Ry Cooder and NBA sneakerheads. A second “originals” version of the shoes appeared at exclusive retailers throughout the U.S. and during L.A. Market at Findings Showroom/Los Angeles.
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One aspect of the TENT model is developing ideas we're excited about in-house and pitching them to brands out-of-house. It’s somewhat non-traditional but a model we believe in, nonetheless. Our relationship with Initiative Media/Miller Lite was the result of an initial meeting at IPG Media Lab in New York alongside Fast Company, where we pitched an augmented reality idea in partnership with the firm, Binocular.
We collaborated on a proposal from Miller Lite to build out a demo for the augmented reality game we developed, "The First Annual Final Four Free Throw Fest,” whereby players could win tickets to the NCAA Final Four. Ultimately, the timing to produce the application beyond a beta version (on both android and iOS platforms) was not feasible. But hey, nothing ventured, nothing gained.
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Project:
Original tunics with artist Jeffrey Gibson
Location:
Houston, Hudson/NY
Services:
Sample generation
Fabric Selection
Local Manufacturing
Our relationship with curator Denise Markonish led to a collaboration with Jeffrey Gibson. We generated five versions of a unisex tunic featuring original patterns from Gibson. They’re being distributed to a select group during studio visits and art festivals.
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TENT founded The Marfa 100 as a 62-mile/100km charitable cycling event in West Texas to benefit National Public Radio affiliate, Marfa Public Radio. TENT oversaw every aspect of this event for the first two years of its existence, from awareness, to sponsorship, to managing logistics with the Texas Department of Transportation on Pinto Canyon Road. The ride lives on today, 10 years later.
