a visual collective outlet of inspiration

1- the british jeans company lee cooper: they did the “work” thing but half heartedly and not long enough

2- levi’s did it better and with perfect timing

(above and below) an earlier iteration of go forth with photographer ryan mcginley

3- and then there is always the losers, american eagle outfitters plays catch up, its what b companies do

so the recession came and companies where wondering how to sell their junk when no one needed anything. and that was the silver lining. maybe lets say something worthy? for once? let’s take a stance and not blab about some nonsense as to why this is better than that? or which girl should we use this season?

right at the start levi’s came out with their “work” campaign. i remember seeing the first ones and thinking ok, nice pictures, and hey for once a call to action for a nation so pumped up on its own ego where if you actually worked for a living you had to feel bad. after all everyone in the US jets around in private planes with their teacup dogs, and shops, right? or at least thats what has become the new american nightmare. unlike kennedy who asked the nation to work, george bush advised us to shop and lounge around. this was of course perfect for levi’s who used both! originally made for work clothes, levis really needed to sell, and be relevant again in the sea of designer jeans. they did well. i especially like the black daddy and his son, as it broke the stereo types created by hits like “if you need to be with me, you need a J, O, B” or something to that extent as if having a job was not common in “those circles” (that song by the way, unfortunately, is being played out and about once again, like it wasn’t bad enough the first time around). it also addressed the notion that black daddy’s don’t really take care of their families… well hell they do, if you buy them some levi’s. so well done mr. strauss! you make good solid products, just please layoff your newer, “distressed” and  “flimsy” jeans that either look like someone peed in them or feel like you’re wearing a t-shirt instead of a jeans. and do continue your collaboration with filson, i bought the oil finished jacket in moleskin and love it, its a natural marriage.

filson levi’s moleskin oil finished jacket

so that brings us to american eagle outfitters. the losers are like vultures… always around to take a good cut and nibble on it beyond distinction. we the people, has very little to do with the american constitution or the people of united states. the bunch in the picture come across as a crowd of obnoxious degenerates you’d want to avoid with a ten foot pole. that said id give em a D- for doing a little bit of homework adding in the token “cr-asian”, one black girl, and hey is that a hispanic i see there? you couldn’t generate a worse-er campaign through a mechanical machine than this. to make it worse they add the tag line “live in AE jeans” like that’s what you want to really hear? Yeh we the people like to be told what the fuck to wear by some lame b jeans maker. i trust they will be looking for a new agency… or maybe the brilliant marketing dir. think this is “just fab”. by xy