The UK brand Zoltar never does too much at once. In fact, just when you think they’ve gone into hiatus, a project drops that stays true to their unwavering concept of American counterculture—think of their models, faces often reworked via skeletal replacements, Santa Claus beards, and neon ski masks, or their 2006 dinner jacket—classy, but trimmed with gun lining.
Their latest project, “Wunderland,” does not divert. The apparel, design, and art collective was appointed by Nike to create an installation for the Georgian Group in London. The 70 year-old national charity seeks to protect and preserve the buildings and gardens of the eponymous time period that contributed to Britain’s architectural heritage. So it is no surprise that the people at Project Zoltar designed pieces intended to recapture the eras ideals.
Nor is it a shock that Nike, named after the mythological Grecian goddess of victory, backed this exhibition, as Georgian architecture frequently borrowed elements from the Greco-Roman period.
Inspired by classical themes including Corinthian-style columns, triumphal arches, and elegant friezes, Zoltar also uses Lewis Carroll’s famed “Alice in Wonderland” as a stimulus. The affection for the novel, often characterized as “literary nonsense,” could be credited to their shared penchant for questioning the logic and reason of the norm.
And so as not to forget the presence of the sportswear royalty, Zoltar’s etchings and sculptures pay homage to the Air Jordan IV, V, and Air Max 90, that in their transformations to animal and human become worthy of adoration themselves. Like, you know, a God.
