Street art meets sneaker culture: EXTR4’s Four Steps Ahead project

The sneaker takes centre stage in an initiative that brings together art, street culture and new generations: it’s called Four Steps Ahead, the ONBIT project uniting EXTR4 by IMAC, patron of the initiative, and Mr. Savethewall, an Italian artist exclusively represented by Deodato Arte, known for his direct, ironic and deeply urban visual language. His name already carries a poetic statement of its own: to save the wall, to respect it, turning urban intervention into a temporary, light-touch and mindful gesture.

IMAC’s project revolves around a limited-edition unisex footwear capsule collection, created by the artist together with Mario Sisillo, the company’s creative director. The first EXTR4 shoe, sneaker number zero, in its “monumental” version, was unveiled at the last Pitti Uomo as a genuine work of art, setting off from the Fortezza da Basso on a journey through the streets and inviting the public to share the spirit of the initiative: not simply a moving installation, but a contemporary parade that invites people to stop, take photos and share.

The urban journey wasn’t limited to Florence, where it concluded at sunset on the Lungarno, before going on to another city, Pompeii, where it made a stop on 16 July as part of the event programme linked to ORBITS – Dialogues with Intelligence, the project bringing together businesses, institutions, universities and new generations around the themes of artificial intelligence, digital ethics and post-AI society. And this September, during women’s fashion week, it will be Milan’s turn.

At the heart of Four Steps Ahead remains Il Ribelle, one of Mr. Savethewall’s iconic characters, reinterpreted for EXTR4 as a visual manifesto for a generation that doesn’t want to conform, but instead seeks its own path. The sneaker becomes a narrative surface, a sign to follow and to tell a story. Not just a product, but a symbol of movement, identity and participation. “EXTR4 was created to be four steps ahead: in vision, in language, in the way we speak to young people. That’s why we wanted our shoe to become a work of art too, a symbol, an experience to be lived together,” explains Francesco Mazzocconi, owner of IMAC, who, with the EXTR4 brand, set out to redefine the concept of the contemporary sneaker, blending technology, performance and urban aesthetics.

The spring/summer 2027 models also feature the GORE-TEX® membrane, designed to offer greater breathability in the warmer season, while keeping the same minimal, functional approach. Engineered mesh with heat-bonded layers, technical jacquard, stretch knit and suede combined with open-cell structures are among the other features of the footwear for next summer.