I was talking to someone at the weekend who thought that I should be designing/painting Michael Jackson-themed shoes like crazy, and then selling them off like hotcakes, while his death is still fresh in everyone’s minds. While this may indeed be a profitable bandwagon to jump on right now, it’s not something I particularly want Le Shouvre to be involved in. But since several people have asked, here’s my view on the matter…

Much of the customized clothing world has understandably jumped at the chance to sell unofficial merchandise in light of M.J.’s death, but I don’t want Le Shouvre to follow suit. If someone had commissioned a pair of Michael Jackson-inspired shoes at any point prior to his death, I would gladly have done them, and the same still applies. The important thing (for me, at least), is that I’m not going to design such shoes unless someone orders a pair. This may not seem like it’s very different, but I feel that if I suddenly made ten pairs of limited-edition Michael Jackson shoes solely because he just died, and then sold them as if they were commissions, I’d basically be trying to make a profit out of his death.

So, if you’re interested in a pair of Michael Jackson themed shoes, by all means send me an email via the Commission form, and I’ll gladly design something to suit your preferences. However, the design will remain unique and one-of-a-kind; what I’m not going to do is come up with a design now and sell the shoes off specifically because the world is mourning the loss of the King of Pop.