E31 Initiation is born out of the notion of “leverage”, presenting a uniform of sorts as a welcome guide to the world of Akme. The brand’s “welcome package” is a radical take on the propaganda strategy traditionally used to justify and beautify” the new place” to working-class minorities. The collection, Diaz notes, “represents the beginning of the process of adjusting who you are with what your surroundings want you to be, the concept of trying to mimic and mould yourself to be a part of something that was designed for you to never fully be a part of. “

The capsule comprises 50 limited-edition pairs of footwear in five different silhouettes, all designed by Jesus and hand-manufactured at the factory in the Arts District in Downtown Los Angeles. Emphasizing transparency, quality and accessibility, the shoes are crafted from ultra-durable horsetanned cow leather, chiefly used for work boots, and are rendered in dense matte black. The silhouettes redesign the elements of various past and contemporary footwear types, distorting, merging, and remixing proportions, line work and construction methods, resulting in a familiar unfamiliarity, “an identity crisis.”

Akme positions itself somewhere between a platform and a brand, redefining the notion of what a modern-day brand is and what it can be. As Diaz puts it, “Akme is not a luxury footwear brand, it’s not a technical brand, it’s not a fashion brand, and it’s not just another footwear brand. Technically, this is a bastard child of all of it.”

Building a community of creatives at the core of its mission, the brand has tapped contemporary upcoming Eastern European creatives Victor Shevchenko and Liza Barbakadze to interpret the collection theme in their preferred mediums. The collaborations result in an immersive visual introduction to the brave new world of Akme.

“AKME E31: A capsule about the birth of a pre-condition and a concept called leverage. A beginning, when identity was the only currency. A time when want and need were present but neglected, laws of power were hidden, understanding was taken, and confusion was given through acceptance labeled as a choice instead of need. The start of mass-producing enemies, through perception for the necessity of order. When the feeling of being alienated and excluded was by design in order to have dues paid with no receipts, for assets that were pre-determined for one not to keep. The concept of the initiation of a game one was not taught but learned through generations of loss and grief. The beginning of a question.”