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"Art is life and life is art." So said a visionary American who counted Jean-Michel Basquiat and Andy Warhol among his contemporaries: Keith Haring.
Like many of his time, Haring was interested in bringing art to the masses. He found inspiration in graffiti, cartoons and street art, and questioned the boundaries between high and low art in both his personal and commercial work.
In April 1986, for instance, he opened the Pop Shop, a store in New York’s Soho neighbourhood selling T-shirts, toys, posters, buttons and magnets with his work on them. It was affordable art, as the world had never seen it before. Tragically, Haring died in 1990 of AIDS, but his legacy lives on through the work he created and the Keith Haring Foundation, which helps children suffering from the effects of AIDS and HIV.
Philanthropy, openness and social equality were at the heart of everything Haring did – one of his most famous pieces embodies this ethos, it says "Art is for everybody". Now, as part of the special-edition Coach x Keith Haring collection, the New York-based design house has released pieces which celebrate the renegade artist turned cultural icon. Here are our favourite bags, accessories and ready-to-wear featuring Haring's famous jagged prints and cartoonish figures mixed with Coach Signature – the brand's iconic pattern.
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