How many times a week can you find cool visuals Effects Artists on Instagram, “save” their work in the app and move on without revisiting? Brooklyn-based menswear brand Le PÈRE is looking to change that.
Coveted by a team of seasoned music and fashion executives, most of whom chose to remain anonymous, Le PÈRE was founded to “integrate the visual arts through clothing” world, offering consumers a unique perspective and offering products for each season.” In short, the brand has set out to foster a community of creators and shopping collectors, hosting a collection of collaborators each season, both emerging and established Artists, Designers and Illustrators etc. Each collection consists of two to three collaborative capsules, each containing pieces from a different creative, as well as individual branded pieces. The brand’s second collection will be available at Neiman Marcus later this month.
)
Le Père Collection II. Photo: Ricky Alvarez Photography / Courtesy of Le Père
Le Père Series II. Photo: Ricky Alvarez Photography / Courtesy of Le Père
“Music artists have the ability to connect with audiences in live performances,” one of the founders of Le PÈRE told me. Visual artists, on the other hand, are often relegated to a one-dimensional digital experience with little real-life interaction with their community. Le PÈRE offers artists the opportunity to find audiences through fashion. Creatives gain exposure, and clients, in turn, can invest in simple items like football shirts and overalls, which they believe may one day be as collectible as works of art.
Placing artwork is an easy way to create seasonal novelties, but for a brand to stand out, it needs to go beyond a t-shirt with some graphic design and a redesigned logo. The philosophy of Le PÈRE is that the artist works hand in hand with the brand’s design team. “In terms of music, every top Hits are written by multiple songwriters and we are based on the same collaboration Principles build Le PÈRE,” the executive continued. “As we were building one of the most successful independent labels in the world [AWAL, a British label now owned by Sony Music Entertainment], we realized we were also inadvertently building a group of incredibly talented creatives. An inspiring community of people shaping culture with their own signature styles and attitudes in music and fashion. From Frank Ocean to Kaytranada, Aminé, Post Malone, Brockhampton and Travis Scott, this burgeoning creative community is making The most iconic and influential art and style of our generation.”
Le Père Collection II. Photo: Ricky Alvarez Photography / Courtesy of Le Père
Le Père series II. Photo: Ricky Alvarez Photography / Courtesy of Le Père
Le Père Series II. Photo: Ricky Alvarez Photography / Courtesy of Le Père
The Le PÈRE founders have an impressive track record in music, and they thought they could iterate on a fashionable formula. Enter Samuel Choi, ex Ralph Lauren and R Designer responsible for the design. Choi describes the brand’s aesthetic as “rooted in classic American sportswear, mixed with an almost European memorabilia look that can be sexy and masculine at the same time”. The American sportswear portion of the proposal was presented in pieces such as an oversized two-sleeve striped button down jacket, a pair of lazy painter jeans, or a blazer reimagined in Italian denim. European memorabilia elements come from humorous and kitsch work, such as football shirts playfully decorated by Portuguese graphic designer and illustrator Bráulio Amado (who illustrated for The New York Times Magazine and collaborated with the likes of Christopher John Rogers and Róisín Murphy), or Rhee Studio’s New York designer and artist Cherry Kim (who just made a piece for an exhibition curated by Daniel Arsham) designed buttons, sweatshirts and jackets featuring (slightly gay) wrestlers.
“Artist-brand collaborations happen all the time, but the point of Le PÈRE is to make them mutually beneficial,” Kim told me. “I usually find this type of collaboration to be beneficial for the brand-side partner, or the larger of the two brands: they can outsource the labor of producing original artwork, use the artist’s name to enter a niche market, and gain financial benefits.” She The experience at Le PÈRE was unlike any other. “It’s almost like I’m an extension of the internal team,” she said.
Le Père Series II. Photo: Ricky Alvarez Photography / Courtesy of Le Père
Choi says the brand exists in the “missing space” between streetwear and high-end fashion. “We’re working with people who are interesting and have something to say,” he said. “In a sense, you can imagine yourself as a normal person, a normal person who doesn’t necessarily follow Paris Fashion Week, but does have a distant interest in culture and what shapes it.”
Le Père Series II. Photo: Ricky Alvarez Photography / Courtesy of Le Père
