Fountain of Yus - #003

Hey guys, hope everyone's well and recovered from Glasto. Back again with another issue of FOY, this time taking learnings from the connections between high fashion, streetwear and community. Enjoy!

Burberry x Dazed Whitby Street Takeover

This weekend, Burberry collaborated with Dazed in an exhibition that is a testament to the fashion house’s rebrand of recent years, which looks to pull it away from the world of regality it was boxed in.

The exhibition was situated in Shoreditch, the same venue Gucci hosted their ‘House of Gucci’ exhibition series. Though the House of Gucci was covered in the brand’s famous monogram, the Burberry walls were quite the opposite, filled with graffiti work done by the talented Jota Mombaça and a poem by Kai-Isaiah Jamal which contextualised the setting.

The space consisted of 3 days of workshops with Girls in Film, Cereus Nights, PRIM, Keash London. Bone Soda’s Skinny Macho curated the music but there were performances too, as well as screenprinting and mural exhibitions and a library curated by PRIM. There was an upstairs lounge area where they were DJs on deck and barbers doing what they do best.

Since Riccardo Tisci took over as Creative Director, Burberry has been redefining its brand identity, from its campaigns, social activism causes with Rashford and even to something like this. For a traditional high street brand to do this is quite brave, taking the risk of dissociating from its core audience.

If Nike are anything to live by, it only makes space for a new audience, one more in line with the direction the brand is heading into.

Watch the recap here.

Corteiz Regnesurlemonde

Last week Corteiz took over the streets of Paris with a limited giveaway of his Parisian themed t-shirts, costing a hefty €0.

Although simplistic by nature, the execution was anything but that. Founder of the brand, Clint has spent a lot of time speaking about France on his socials while also being a frequent visitor, which included the occasional photo shoot for new releases. In hindsight it was clear he was setting the scene, waiting for the perfect opportunity to seize the day. With last week being the Parisian leg of the fashion week calendar and also the 40th anniversary of Fete De La Musique, the stage was set for Corteiz, a London-born streetwear brand to lay its mark onto the streets of Paris and send waves across the city.

Carnage ensued in Central Paris as fans alike were running around hoping to be one of the lucky ones to catch a limited T-shirt, grabbing the attention of all those around.

This was a tactical masterclass from Corteiz. With the fashion world all fixated on the latest offering high fashion designers had to exhibit, Clint stole the attention and reminded the fashion world where the real influence lies when it comes to fashion, as he captioned in his insta post: “What the fuck is fashion week when you really in the street?”

Catch a glimpse of it here

adidas NZXT Destination

To celebrate the release of the new ZX 22 sneaker, adidas took over Magazine London and converted it into an airport departure lounge. The space featured an immersive VR station that took you on a journey through Planet ZX with Big Zuu, a shirt printing stand designed to mimic the check-in queue, a claw machine with lots of prizes including a pair of sneakers if lucky, as well as a carousel where headliner Niko B performed.

Guests could also treat themselves to free drinks, Wingstop and Nitrogen Ice-cream throughout the evening too. In attendance were some of adidas’ ambassadors, including Ella the Witch, Sidemen’s Tobi, Big Zuu and Grime Gran to name a few.

In my honest opinion, the event was great in idea but poor in execution, I feel like the venue was too big for them to get the level of engagement they desired but equally thought the space design didn’t allow for a seamless experience. Nonetheless, it’s always good to see the new creative ways brands look to showcase their latest releases.

Catch snippets of what went down here

Slawn gives back

Visual artist Slawn, who took the art world by storm through guerrilla marketing tactics, has followed up on a successful year with a community-focused initiative.

After working with Nike, collaborating with Central Cee and having his artwork mounted in the homes of top artists including Skepta, Jorja Smith and Burna Boy to name a few, Slawn found it was time for his community to be decorated too.

As mentioned in a previous article for Decode, his community has played a big role in building his success. However, with the estimate of his artwork currently ranging between £10,000 - £100,000, the majority of his fans are priced out of owning one.

With this in mind, Slawn decided to sell artwork priced at £500, giving his most loyal fans an opportunity to own a piece of his work.

By doing this, Slawn is rewarding his community for the contribution they make to his success and showing that he values their loyalty. Slawn is showing fellow creators the value in staying true to your communities when you reach new heights as opposed to leaving them behind, an attitude a lot of brands can benefit from too.

That’s all folks.

Until next time,
Yus