Top graffiti artists told 'pimp my sneakers'

The writing is usually on the wall for graffiti artists - but not when the world of fashion takes an interest.

Seven of the world's best urban sprayers have been given a chance to create the ultimate in street cool - trainers featuring their artwork.

Organisers adidas and Foot Locker gave the artists a warehouse in London's Spitalfields area to work in.

The artists - Smart, Skore, Scien, Can2, Atom, Siloette and Rime - came from all over the globe, including the US, Germany, France and Britain, for the End to End project.

For three days they worked day and night to produce a series of sketches and designs.

The artists were required to start with a blank sketchbook, and work through the entire graffiti process, finishing with something that would be incorporated into a classic trainer design.

By setting up cameras in the warehouse and capturing the design process it was one of the first times the different-techniques used by these artists could be studied in detail.

The designs were then taken away and transformed into a series of footwear and clothing which will go on sale in Foot Locker from next Monday.

The original artwork is set to be showcased on a bus that will be touring Europe throughout this month.

Individual graffiti designs were applied to a series of classic trainers, with one pair featuring a collaborative work by all of the artists.

British artist Skore said: 'Sneakers are such a big part of hip hop and graffiti culture - I remember back the days when I used to customise my adidas century sneakers with a marker pen.

'Trainers have been and always will be massive and its great to be a part of sneaker history.'