monsieur plant crafts reebok classic into flower sneakers

christophe guinet continues his transformation of everyday and pop-culture objects, this time turning his green hands to a pair of reebok classics. crafting the sportswear icons using only mother nature’s materials, the parisian-born artist – who goes by the name of mr. plant or more recently, monsieur plant – asks the viewer to rediscover the beauty in the natural environment.

all images courtesy of the artist

monsieur plant‘s sneaker-shaped, plant-based sculptures, see a variety of pastel-coloured petals and tree bark meticulously crafted onto a pair of retro sneakers. with every facet (bar the laces), from the sole to the toe, pieced together to form one part of the artist’s natural universe.

his affliction with nature developed as a teenager, where a passion for plants, especially the cultivation of orchids: attracted by their exacting needs and rewarded by the beauty and delicacy of their flowers, captured his attention. later on, his tastes evolved to urban cultures including skate, street art, fashion, inspiring him to embark on creating things himself before gathering a team of creative talents to set up his own design and communications collective known as the «SEIZE».

guinet is well-versed in the use of natural materials, known for his transformation of cult products and icons such as NIKE’s own sneakers, skateboards and 1990s apple computers. the artist transforms such items into compositions made from rocks, poppies, seeds, flower petals and wood. guinet has even rendered his own darth vader helmet and full-sized batman suit out of bark. last year monsieur plant presented his last collaboration with cider brand strongbow and the agency cloud factory for the advertising campaign 2017, bringing to life the universe of the artist (below). most recently, he completed an installation to mark the opening of ‘the camp’ in provence, mapping an imaginative through the woods and narrating the absorption of human rights by nature in a series of tree-men-like hybrids.

a nature dream | strongbow 
video by monsieur plant