SAA Colab
Seven All Around designs shoes that function seven days a week. While bringing you timelessly chic and comfortable shoes, we also have a grander thread woven into the fiber of our footwear. Sustainability and conservation have been at the forefront of our creative process since the beginning, especially ocean preservation. Our founder, Heesung Choi, was exposed to the majestic nature of our oceans from a young age. Her mother, a scuba diver, opened up an underwater world of the unseen currents of daily to her. Here, foreign eco-systems flourished with vibrant corals and schools of fish. Her appreciation of the world’s oceans influenced our Coral Collection and our most recent collaboration, exhibited here today, with talented artist Ray Bartkus (@raybartkus).
Native to Vilnius, Lithuania, Ray attended the Vilnius Art Academy and earned his Master’s Degree in Printmaking. The multi-talented artist relocated to New York City with his wife, Ina, and their son in 1991. He quickly gained acclaim for his illustrative style and published works in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Harper’s Magazine, et al.
Renowned for his editorial illustrations, Ray has received numerous awards in the field. Recently, his focus has been on diversifying his work - drawing, digital art, installations, street art, and oil painting. Many of Ray’s oil paintings have included his wife, Ina, as model and muse in loving detail. The live-work loft they share houses the surreal shapes of his light installations.
Now, further expanding his artistic vision, he’s journeyed with us into fashion by painting the sea creatures that decorate our biodegradable leather boots.
More than a work of art, the boots represent the coalescence between functionality, conservation, and creativity. They embody the essence of Seven All Around. When admiring the clean linework of the paintings, they take you to an underwater world of pristine oceans and thriving coral reefs. Now, imagine a world without them — picture stark bleached corals, an absence of color, and schools of fish replaced by wading plastic waste. How would life be different? When wearing our collaboration with Ray Bartkus, you are making a statement. With each step, you're pursuing the preservation of the beauty of our planet. Remember — Planet, not Plastic. But if there is plastic, we'll recycle it into our conscious designs.
