“Somebody has to do something, and it’s incredibly pathetic that it has to be us.”
–Jerry Garcia, Rainforest Benefit Concert Press Conference, September 1988
A collection of limited edition sandals offered by shoemaker KEEN Inc. and the estate of the late musician Jerry Garcia sold out just hours after being offered on Earth Day.
KEEN says the limited-edition, individually numbered Newport Garcia LTD sandals, dropped at 12:01 AM on Earth Day and sold out by noon the same day. KEEN, a long-time defender of public lands, created the limited edition, individually numbered collection, using Garcia’s unique artwork to raise awareness and funds to Protect the Tongass National Forest. KEEN will donate one per cent of proceeds from this style, and the overall Garcia collection, to The Wilderness Society’s ‘Protect The Tongass’ campaign.
“Our rainforests are critical to planetary and human health, and they’re threatened by logging and industrial development,” said Erik Burbank, VP The KEEN Effect. “We are so motivated to be working with the Garcia Family to raise awareness and support for the protection of the Tongass. We were blown away by the positive response from fans, and by the reaction to the Newport Garcia LTD sandals. We were basically sold-out by noon.”
Featuring three styles with different pieces of Garcia’s art, the expansion of the collection features: the sold-out individually numbered collector’s limited-edition KEEN Newport sandal, which features his Junglescape artwork, and two new KEEN X Garcia styles —Yogui Slip-on and Elsa Lite Sneaker— which feature New York at Night and Banyan Tree, artwork introduced in the initial launch of the product line last year.
Historically, Jerry Garcia’s commitment to protect nature includes the Grateful Dead’s landmark rainforest benefit concert in 1988 at Madison Square Garden, as well as his Junglescape artwork, now featured on the rarest drop ever from KEEN, the iconic and individually numbered KEEN x Garcia NewportSandal LTD Junglescape.
In the press conference for the 1988 Rainforest Benefit Concert, Jerry Garcia famously stated, “Somebody has to do something, and it’s just incredibly pathetic that it has to be us.” Some thirty-three years later, his estate is still fighting the same fight.
The Tongass National Forest in Alaska is the largest temperate rainforest on Earth and one of the most carbon-storing terrestrial ecosystems. Due to the Trump administration rollbacks of decades-old “Roadless Rule” protections, it is now open for logging and other industrial development.