.gif){kind=small}
When we first starting talking about inspiration for this Fall’s campaign last year, a series of highly unusual events had occurred in New York City around the time – a mild earthquake that prompted an evacuation of our headquarters in DUMBO, a hurricane that shut down the entire subway system for the first time ever, and a twister that wound its way through the narrow streets of Brooklyn, tearing down our Park Slope store awning. At that point, it wouldn’t have been surprising if Cloverfield had washed ashore.
What those events did remind us of was how tenuous the order and balance between the culture we create and nature really is. We construct seemingly impregnable fortresses made of steel and concrete, yet add a little rain water and we become savages with shopping carts battling it out for the last gallon of water. During the day, we put on our dry cleaned button ups, yet at night, we dance primally to beats, push ourselves into subway crowds, dress ourselves in ostentatious peacock outfits, and fall prey to our sexual urges. We migrate from neighborhood to neighborhood, leaving stretches of avenues for nature to reclaim with weeds and rust, only to later be scouted, chopped down, and reclaimed by the cultural agents of gentrification.
Living in New York City, it’s sometimes easy to forget about nature, outside of the occasional sidewalk tree, subway rat, and herd of pomeranians on leashes. To remind us of our susceptibility to our savage tendencies and the forces of nature, the design team packed our cars and headed up north to the Catskills to camp and shoot our fall line. While urbanites packing for the country can be a little awkward – DSLR’s, chocolate, iPods, we instantly found our footing with bare feet, running and rolling down grassy hills, carving up kindling for the fire, and racing through dark woods at night. Our models – Kevin who we found in the middle of a crowded dance floor at a Rockaway Beach dance party, and Haley who we plucked from Bushwick, were equally intrepid, joining us in a tipsy stag leap dance, and even voluntarily wading through a pond inhabited by hordes of giant, croaking bullfrogs.
For the earlier fall release, color blocking and nautical stripes run through many of the designs, along with inspiration from op art. Later in the fall, the more autumnal colors begin to show up, along with houndstooth patterns and lace.
For more campaign photos, visit Live, Work, Create.
