Grammy-winning rapper Eminem known for his not-so family-friendly lyrics may be changing his tune. Not with his style of music, but with his image… and he’s asking for your help.
If you like Eminem (or your children do) and you like Nike shoes, then you may seriously consider lending a hand… or a foot… as the case may be. The rapper has collaborated with the famous shoe company to create a limited-edition collection of Air Max sneakers to be auctioned for charity.
Nike executives told reporters at a recent news conference that Eminem (whose real name is Marshall Mathers) was hands-on during the entire project. They went on to say that the rapper even designed uppers for eight shoes in the series, including the Air Max ’87 and the most recent Air Max 360.
“His reinterpretation of the upper has been laid onto the original blueprints for each of the Air Max shoes to create a unique set of designs,” said Nike shoe engineers.
All of the shoes (eight sets of the footwear—a total of 64 pairs) will be produced exclusively for the charity auction. Proceeds raised by the auction will benefit Eminem’s Marshall Mathers Foundation, which provides funds for organizations working with troubled youth near his boyhood home in southeast Michigan. The other organization, which will share in the money raised by the shoe sale is ninemillion.org, a global campaign to bring education and sports programs to children in refugee camps across the globe.
Eminem addressed the partnership with Nike and the upcoming charity event on his website saying: “We’re always looking for new ways to try to raise money and awareness for the foundation, so when Nike approached us we jumped at the chance. Who wouldn’t want to design their own line of Nikes? And to do it for charity makes it that much better.”
In addition to helping design the sneakers, the 33-year-old singer plans to autograph all of them prior to the auction. So how can you get your own pair of one-of-a-kind stomps? The shoes will be auctioned at Nike stores in London, Berlin and Paris and on the eBay over a four-week period. The auction starts Thursday at Niketown in London and on eBay September 12th.