Spike Lee's 40 Acres and A Mule

Spike Lee, a champion of independent film and an inspiration to young filmmakers, made an auspicious debut with his NYU thesis film, Joe’s Bed-Stuy Barbershop: We Cut Heads, which won a Student Academy Award in 1983. He proceeded to blaze a distinctive trail with such features as She’s Gotta Have It (1986), School Daze (1988) and Do the Right Thing (1989), which earned him an Oscar nomination for Original Screenplay. He currently serves as the artistic director of the graduate film program at NYU.

Lee is the first director featured in the Director’s Inspiration gallery as part of the Academy Museum’s core exhibition Stories of Cinema. The merchandise featured in this collection was designed and produced with Lee’s company 40 Acres and A Mule.

The influence of Spike Lee is woven into pop culture as his impression on film, hip hop, sports, sneakers and style over the past thirty years is unparalleled. His creation of Spike's Joint helped establish the ground work of what today's streetwear brands aspire to become. Few are truly deserving of the title "iconic" and even fewer can boast being the spark that ignited a global movement that is still going strong and evolving. Spike's Joint is essentially that movement. Bold, outspoken, fearless, and innovative have always been the ethos of Spike's Joint and 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks and today's collection continues to reinforce those beliefs. 

Visit our Spike Lee pop up shop at the Academy Museum Store.