[Spike Lee]; Nike

From the personal collection of Dominga Martin

SPIKE LEE'S AUTOGRAPHED "5 FOR 5" CUSTOM NIKE STARTER JACKET—ONE OF TWELVE COMMEMORATIVE JACKETS PRODUCED FOR 40 ACRES AND MULE FILMWORKS EXECUTIVE CREW

Founded by Spike Lee in 1979, 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks is the production company behind every single one of Lee's films, including ). The present lot is custom commemorative jacket produced following the 1991 release of Jungle Fever—Lee's fifth feature-length film—for the the top twelve members of his 40 Acres crew. Celebrating five phenomenal contributions to the canon of Black American cinema, the patch on the right sleeve reads "5 for 5" under the Nike Swoosh logo—then proceeds to list out each of these first five titles: She's Gotta Have It (1986), School Daze (1988), Do the Right Thing (1989), Mo' Better Blues (1990), and the penultimate at that time, Jungle Fever (1991).

Producing this piece in collaboration with Nike, Lee was participating in one of the 90's biggest sartorial trends—the Starter jacket. First introduced as licensed apparel for U.S. professional sports leagues, Starter jackets' oversized silhouettes and ostentatious colorways quickly became adopted by some of Hip Hop's greats—Public Enemy, 2 Live Crew, and Run DMC were all early adopters of the trend. Appearing in and on enough music videos and album covers to eventually garner a commercial series of celebrity endorsements, the Starter jacket was solidified as a certified status symbol for the end of the 20th century. The present lot is Spike Lee's own "5 for 5" jacket, directly out of his closet. purchased by Award winning Filmmaker, Dominga Martin at one of the filmmaker's infamous stoop sales hosted outside of his 40 Acres studio in Brooklyn, almost a decade ago.

Early in her filmmaking journey at the time of purchase, Martin shared with Lee that she was purchasing the jacket not as an investment, but as a talisman and inspiration, a story which lead Lee to autograph the piece with well wishes to the future—"MANY BLESSINGS / Love, Spike Lee"

Since 2001, Martin has directed music videos for GRAMMY Nominated artists, with work that has premiered on BET, VH-1 and MTV Music. Her second short film is the winner of the 5th Annual Hip Hop Odyssey International Film Festival (New York). “Hip Hop and Black Film has always been synonymous to me. Growing up in Boston, New York Hip Hop Culture and Spike Lee have always been a driving force for my art."