Pick which Big Five animal you want to design (Remember you get to choose one) 

Typography (elephant)

Photography (leopard)

Generative Art (lion)

Paintings (buffalo)

Illustrations (rhino)

Wildlife conservation, heritage and indigenous textile production, providing economic and educational opportunities to women and indigenous communities around the world, sustainable and fair trade/ethical textile production.

Le Mondeur is an ethical shoe company dedicated to advancing causes that go beyond fashion, and now they're asking you to join their campaign to "Take a Stand for Africa's Big 5." To take a stand, we're asking you to help us support the critical wildlife conservation work of the Big Life Foundation through your artistic creations. 

 Le Mondeur is seeking designs that capture the spirit of the iconic Big Five animals, where each animal can only be visualized in their designated media format, i.e. the lion (generative AI), rhinoceros (illustration), elephant (graffiti or typography), buffalo (painting), and leopard (photography.) Anyone can submit, so long as they are over 14 years of age, if you are younger you are welcome to have your parents submit on your behalf.

Le Mondeur will select one from each media format and fabricate one style by collaging all five works. At the same time, the Maestro (artistic curator) will get to fabricate a second style with as many submissions as needed to reframe the term "Big 5" from being associated with the trophy hunting community to being prioritized through a conservation lens. The Maestro for this campaign is Asher Jay, as this is the first campaign on the application she founded, Henoscene, and the cause is close to Jay's heart.

The submissions chosen by Le Mondeur and the Maestro will then be collaged into two different sneaker styles. The styles will then be made available with two design variants per style for public upvotes. The two variants with the most votes will then be minted and manufactured. Minted shoes will not only contribute to Big Life Foundation's need for ranger uniforms but also give the creatives whose designs made it to the final stage of production the opportunity to earn from all digital sales, as per the "split" stated on the campaign page. 

Please note that the split below refers to the eNFTs, not the physical shoe. 

Uniforms

The uniform will be directly  acquired and delived from a local vendor to support and encourage  the local community.


Local Vendors

Big life rangers, since 2011 have patrolled over 5,000,000+ kilometres, arrested more than 5,000 suspects and confiscated over 6,000 tools and weapons in pursuit of protecting African wildlife. As you can imagine, this comes at some cost to the ranger's uniforms, which are essential in keeping these staggering efforts up. This project aims to Equip 381 rangers with a new uniform, providing them with the support and tools to continue to protect Africa's wildlife.

Community support via healthcare and education

The Ranger's credibility and authority are compromised as a result. Their Morale and motivation are further diminished by this as well.

Worn-out Uniforms

Bright, easy-to-identify protective gear increases credibility, authority and protection. Sense of community, validation, acknowledgement and professional pride increases.

New uniforms

Saving Wildlife with Boots on the Ground

Le Mondeur shoe design

Maestro's Favourite

Most Popular 

Impact Partners Favourite

Brand's Favourite

Maestro's shoe design

Each user has one submission within this time period and must pick which animal they want to design for from the Big Five: Lion, Rhinoceros, elephant, leopard, or buffalo.

The animal you have chosen can only be submitted in its designated media format. Here are the formats: (I) Lion: AI Generative Art (ii) Leopard: Photography (iii) Elephant: typography/graffiti or font art (Iv) Rhino: illustrations (v) Buffalo: Painting. 

Contributions Phase

Le Mondeur, Big Life Foundation and the Maestro (Asher Jay) will review the contributions across all five categories to decide which submissions best fit the featured criteria set by the campaign.The featured contributions will be announced on December 1st 2023. 


Features selection

Le Mondeur and the Maestro must create two distinct and different shoe layouts each in this period. Resulting in four separate shoe designs that could incorporate completely different contributions and produce unique designs on each of them that you could be part of!!

Design layout

In this voting phase, four potential shoe designs will be released. This will include two from Le Mondeur and Two from the Maestro (Asher Jay). However, only one design from each will actually be turned into a physical shoe showing the world where you stand for African wildlife! This is where you come in. You can vote for your favourite design directly, and at the end of the phase, the two designs with the most votes will be made into a physical shoe that you can own yourself!!!

Up-vote

In this phase, we will release the eNFTs for the Maestro's and Le Mondeur voted layouts and chosen submissions for the featured categories.

eNFT Drop

In this phase, the eNFTs are now available for purchase. The Maestro and Le Mondeur final design will link to a physical shoe that you can own through its purchase. You can also show your support for the featured submissions by purchasing them.

The eNFT provides a transparent way for you to receive products while also providing a clear picture of where your funding is directly going.

eNFT Purchase

Le Mondeur will begin manufacturing exclusive small-batch editions of the two final layouts in line with ethical slow fashion. Please be aware that manufacturing will depend on the complexity of the upvoted shoes, and Le Mondeur cannot give an exact completion date, but it will take place in 2024.

Manufacturing

During this phase, Le Mondeur will fulfil the shipping of both shoes to all applicable users who purchased the eNFTS. Please note that this will depend on the previous manufacturing phase status, and these dates may not be final, but will take place in 2024.

I Stand for…

Contribution phase: