Sale Rack: Armed with art*

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Shepard Fairey’s Barack Obama campaign posters have landed him in the National Portrait Gallery, and now the L.A.-based street artist is being inducted into another hallowed institution -- Saks Fifth Avenue -- where his artwork graces a limited-edition $20 tote bag.

Fairey’s Studio Number One illustrations for the Saks ‘Want It!’ marketing campaign, along with the tote, are his tongue-in-cheek take on Russian constructivist posters from the early 20th century, with slogans such as ‘arm yourself with a slouchy bag’ and ‘brave new pants.’

Sales of the tote support the nonprofit HOPE, Helping Other People Everywhere, with $15 of the purchase price going to the charity, which promotes education and peace projects.

Terron Schaefer, Saks’ group senior vice president of marketing and creative, says Fairey was at first ‘hesitant about mixing art and commerce. But I cited Louis Vuitton’s collaborations with Robert Wilson, Stephen Sprouse and Takashi Murakami as examples of big business and art collaborating successfully.’ Not to mention what Andy Warhol did for Campbell’s soup cans.

9600 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills. (310) 275-4211. 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Mondays-Wednesdays and Fridays; 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Thursdays; 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Saturdays; noon-6 p.m. Sundays. www.saksfifthavenue.com

-- Max Padilla

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*An earlier version of this post spelled Terron Schaefer’s name as Teron Scaffer and incorrectly gave his title as Saks’ vice president of creative and marketing.