The Society Of The Spectacle

With the ongoing success of Marvel and DC’s characters in the movie theaters, it’s no surprise that the comic book genre is very rapdily moving into some unexpected, and quite fun creative areas. One of these is a recent collaboration between those curators of all thing cool Colette and DC Comics. Overall it’s a great collaboration, with something for everyone, from simple t-shirts reprinting classic DC Covers from Batman to the Green Lantern (and a snazzy, but crazily expensive Balmain T-shirt) to a few more bizarre, but super cool products. Check out a couple of faves after the jump. The entire collection is available on Colette.fr (Via Worlds Best Ever)
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Up now on Oki-Ni, are some amazing shoes from the super cool and stunningly crafted Mr Hare. Here’s a man with a deep deep passion for great shoes, and great craftsmanship. I also love the resolute ‘anti’ fashioness of the whole arrangement, Mr Hare, who has proudly talks (in his fantastic bio) about his no formal training, these are made for action, for walking, for dancing, for prowling and looking damn good doing it. Here’s a couple of faves (after the jump) from the current season at Dover Street Market and available at Oki-Ni. One day, when I’ve saved up… (more…)

With Preppy style splashed all over (alas) the UK high street, it’s good to see this (continuing) authentic style and culture be celebrated by the re-release by Powerhouse Books in Brooklyn of ‘Take Ivy’. (more…)

Wrangler has returned to the high fashion fray with a sequel to the Ryan McGinley shot ‘We Are Animals’ from 2008. The last one was well received, winning at Cannes, and certainly helped give some element of credibility to a brand that had been bumping along without a clear direction for some time. This campaign however, is a real winner, beautifully art directed and shot by Jeff Burton, this campaign keeps the the dark brooding theme with stabbing shots of colour that lend a severe edge to the clothes. This stark campaign comes on the back of Wrangler’s relaunch of it’s Blue Bell label. Blue Bell, like Levi’s Vintage Clothing and Levi’s RED, takes classic pieces and cuts from Wrangler’s immense archive and gives them a contemporary release. The website is the real brilliant bit of comms here, I wont spoil it, but it’s one of the best interactive experiences I’ve come across in a while. The shirts as ever are beautiful and certainly worth a look. Certainly of the ‘big three’ Jeans brands, (Levis’ Lee & Wrangler) Wrangler seems to be doing the most interesting stuff. Check out the Blue Bell video and the rest of the ‘We Are Animals’ campaign after the jump. (more…)

In tough times, it’s interesting to see how Luxury Brands, specifically ones more associated with frivolity and a certain ‘joie de vivre’ (or recklessness, depending on your point of view) have scrambled to reposition themselves with authenticity at their core. Gucci, with it’s latest ad campaign has taken this one step further by recycling  vintage ads with one of the proto supermodels Veruschka and the languid Jetset glamour of Peter Sellers (above – from behind)

It’s a smart bit of thinking from the Creatives at Gucci, serving two roles, establishing an authenticity of product and making you think twice about the longevity of the brand, and the powerful allure of the jetset. Similar to way Louis Vuitton photographs it’s signature bags adorned on the iconic, the famous or just plain interesting, it’s a great way of proving your sticking power when others around you are floundering. It’s a great story, and I wonder if it presages a trend towards other fashion houses recycling their archives in other interesting ways. More ads after the jump. (Source WWD)
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Super imaginative breakdown of the catwalk looks, from the straight down the line, to the truly bizarre. Fashematics let the air out of fashions more pompous moments. It helps it’s seriously funny. Check out a cheeky selection after the jump. (more…)

Trawling through PSFK, I saw this rather strange idea from Swedish designer Ann Sofie Back (and her ad team We Are Group) Spinning the now overused “Pop Up Store” concept (Kingsmill pop up store anyone? Yeah I thought not) into a much more outlandish and provocative concept; the hostage store.

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