*We are a full service creative studio making campaigns & content for modern brands*
Selected recent 35mm & 120 film
Selected recent 16mm & Super 8 clips
BAIT by Mark Jenkins, great recent example of pure analogue feature film making
Our 16mm Athens diary, for Folk Spring Summer 20
LA HAINE (trailer) by Matthieu Kasovitz, black and white Nineties style
WALKABOUT (trailer) by Nicolas Roeg, Seventies classic with incredible cinematography
*We shoot analogue and digital formats, moving and still imagery, creating high quality and quantity of cross platform assets. We write & produce all our campaigns.
Think of us like an ad' agency without the hot air, dedicated to the fashion & culture sectors. In love with image making*
Whoop!
If you would like to talk about how we can help position & present your brand in an effective, engaging and beautiful way feel free to contact us.
Black & White Digest #17 We are a full service creative studio creating campaigns & content for modern brands.
Product Stories
To feed the insatiable appetite of cross platform channels, we have been developing beautiful visual content which is focused on capturing products on location, without the scale of full fashion shoot investment.
With offices in East London and West Dorset we have unique access to great shooting environments, for video and photographic stories to supplement key seasonal productions.
We shoot in pre planned series with social feed usage always in mind. Architecture and nature provide constant and varied reference, bringing product out of the studio into aspirational and inspirational context.
We shoot in multiple formats and ratios - analogue & digital, moving & stills. Coupled with strong graphic design in the edit, the resulting rich visual communication provides high stand out in the digital space. Click thru for more examples.
As a Creative Studio dedicated to fashion image making, depicting good product design in engaging, original ways is what we love to do. Clients include Folk, Gloverall, adidas, Andersons & Les Basics.
For most efficient and holistic creative', we shoot full campaigns - producing model shoots on location in multiple formats with all output aligned, weaving seamless brand & product stories. Click thru for recent showreel
Black & White Digest #16 We are a full service studio creating campaigns & content for modern brands.
THE PUBLISHERS
We are all publishers. The means of production have simplified so everyone is able to 'create' and distribute to an infinite audience. But with talk of #contentfatigue where is the quality, originality & aspiration?
What about the craft of beautiful design & print, or considered curated feeds and cross platform publishing? Here we present some of our favourites which demonstrate that creativity and an understanding of what engages your audience are still the cornerstones of marketing.
IDEA LTD
The 'coolest publisher on the planet' apparently, selling vintage & new art/ fashion/ culture books - via physical at DSM, online through their website, digital via depop, social via instagram. All with big numbers, all looking great, all with niche products. Brand as publisher or publisher as brand?
FREE
Skate culture always makes it's own rules. Which it then breaks. Leaving marketeers confused and skateboarders happy. Free is primarily a printed title made by people in the scene, distributed only via skate stores and is as popular as a new Palace drop. The website and social feeds are packed full of user generated video & articles. The business model is entirely simple, traditional almost, but its authenticity cuts through the noise.
MARNI
Fashion brands have always had aspirations of elevating their product catalogues to art publishing pieces. The highly invested printed look books of fashion houses in the 80s & 90s are exactly the kind of books that sell on Idea Ltd (sic) for £000s. In our digital age check out Marni for best avant garde fashion image making and join their 1.3million followers.
WEST COUNTRY MODERN
In a natural move harnessing our interests & skills, we have started an editorial arts publishing venture focused on rural photography - an attempt to reframe the usual presentation of our bucolic landscape. We have released 3 books, selling in Barbican, Tate Modern, Photographers Gallery, Margaret Howell amongst others. Click through to buy direct from our website.
RENTAL MAGAZINE
Photography, of course, still reigns supreme on social channels - instant visual hits to entertain or inspire. Many 'gallery' instagram feeds exist populated entirely of user generated submissions. Rental is a good one, consistently high quality global goodness to keep your feed artful.
KEXP
Not strictly publishers, but a not for profit music platform out of Seattle that host & stream so much amazing live music that it has become the go to channel for all indie music. With almost 2 million subscribers across channels this resource successfully relies on donation to present themselves. Click through for the mighty Idles.
JUNGLES IN PARIS
Redefining the traditional travel blog and photojournalism, these film makers publish beautiful, slow short films from real global explorations. Prompted via email newsletter, their 'video postcards' are careful captures of a world free of modern commerce. Refresh your eyes.
DRAW DOWN
Celebrating the culture of self publishing and the experimentation of graphic designers, Draw Down is an American publisher & retailer that is a healthy example of the huge growth in independent publications of the last ten years. See also the British 'Self Publish be Happy' and other new pillars of the modern creative industries.
HATO
The first printers also housed the typsetting, finishing & publishing of books, a seamless 'making' process in the realisation of the printed piece. In many ways Hato Press bring us back to this model - with their specialisation in Risographic print, their artworking skills and extensive workshops program. They offer designers & customers a full publishing service ideal for low run, illustrated work & collaboration.
AESTHETICA
Publishing with a capital P, a very good looking cross platform set up documenting visual culture. Big on photography, good on film, nice on fashion, sexier than Cereal less tricky than Frieze. Best in print and on IG.
JJMARSHALL ASSOCIATES In effect we are brand publishers - we create campaigns and content for fashion and culture clients. With in-house expertise in idea generation, design & all aspects of image making, we specialise in a full service offer. Click through for latest London neighbourhood hand held films made for Folk Clothing.
PRESENT & CORRECT Retailers of humble stationery & accessories shouldn't be social media megastars, but this duo have created such a distinct aesthetic with a unique engaging tone of voice, that almost half a million on pinterest, twitter & instagram fawn over their fine curation. Black and white really doesnt do justice here.
HERE PRESS For the craft of specialised book design with print production love, this independent London studio run by art director Ben Weaver only makes exceptional products. In turn these are only sold by exceptional galleries. Check out new release about the Thamesmead estate featuring photography by Tara Darby.
If you would like to talk about how we can help position & present your brand in an effective, engaging and beautiful way feel free to contact us.
Black & White Digest No 015
A collection of themed visual notes from a London Creative Agency.
This issue inspired by GOOD CHAIRS.
Props & Icons. Make us shoot indoors and we'll find a chair. A really good chair (eg the Eero Aarnio Bubble Chair above for our 49 Winters). As props they lend design weight & inspire model posture. But as objects they are the most accessible and beautiful pieces of product design that we have. Here's some of our favourites:
Chair No.31 by Alvaar Alto.
The poetry of bent plywood by all round Finnish mid century master, Aalto. Highly coveted in Hampstead.
Manga Chairsby Nendo, Japan. From recent series of multiple chair design based around the lines and grids of manga comics.
Felt Upright Chair for Established & Sons.
Designed by Reed & Delphine Krakoff, a more than simple, grey piece of quiet Beuysian pleasure.
Oak Ply Chair from junk store.
Our recent summer morning lookbook for Folk paired a 60s ply chair in a Georgian basement in WC1.
#9 - 100 Chairs in 100 Days by Martino Gamper.
One of the most inspiring design experiments of the last 10 years, where then RCA student Gamper amassess various old broken chairs and uses them to create a new design per day for 100 days.
Steelheart Collection by Peg Woodworking.
Geometric, handwoven designs across simple metal frames, part African part Brooklyn. V.Good.
Four seat shell tandem by Charles & Ray Eames.
These 2 have to be included and their airport fibreglass shells with formica table is midcentury fire.
Fishing Chair available from amazon
For less than $40 invest in a wonderfully simple tubular folding chair complete with stereo rod supports.
Stacking School Chair Primary form and function.
Shot in bright orange for our Les Basics AW17 in a Haringey dance studio. Robin Day inspired.
DSC106 Stacking Chair by Piretti for Castellini.
The best workplace chair since 1965, with Italian engineering love and multitude of upholstery colours.
Rag Chair by Droog design.
Very 90s, very Dutch, very good product design from avant gardists using 15 sacks of rags for comfort.
Chair No.14for Thonet.
From 1859, and some 50 million sales later, this is the pleasing populist Euro bistro classic.
Hillestak Chair by Robin Day.
Our Studio Nicholson shoot at The Garden House, featuring classic Beech chair from 1951. Very right.
Hembury Chairby SolidWool.
Ingenious furniture and material from West Coutntry modern artisans, replacing fibreglass with wool.
Philosophy Chair by NN Design.
Japanese consideration with simple glass form and painted black outline. Minimalism with soul.
Xosted Lounge Chair by Philip Caggiano.
£10,000 worth of Italian/ American polished stainless steel tubular sculptural look-at-me furniture.
Cesca Chairby Marcel Breuer. When one considers these iconic chairs were designed almost 100yrs ago, you soon realise that Bauhaus guru Breuer was a visionary. Plagiarized ever since, this is the Stan Smith of furniture design.
XL1 Chair by Michael Marriot.
Made with reclaimed oak and tea chest plywood, this 1991 prototype sets Marriot's humble design tone.
Found Chair on location.
Shooting HighSnobiety editorial this year in derelict glasshouses and found this beauty (the chair).
Sylph Chair by Atelier Deshaus.
Playful & refined + modern + handbuilt - we re happy with that mantra. Line drawing chairs from China.
Les Arcs Stacking Chair by Charlotte Perriand.
Originally designed for ski resort in 1960, this is organic modernism with their evolving leather patina.
CH23 Dining Chair by Hans Wegner.
Combining subtle & elegant furniture design and managing Arsenal football club is a rare skill.
Hillestak by Robin Day.
In full glory (tho better in colour), the beech frame & teak veneer ply chair - gentle English modernism.
Black & White Digest No 014
A collection of themed visual notes.
This issue inspired by FINE MEN.
We thought it relevant, during this lazy season of shorts, flip flops & t-shirts, to highlight
an alternative list of mens style icons, lest we forget the references that inspire us.
*Spoiler alert* No Steve McQueen, David Beckham or Miles Davis.
Kevin Rowland Maverick 'tache.
The Northern soul, the Ivy League, the jazz beatnik - a fine set of wardrobe changes for a restless spirit.
Frank Ocean Nu west coast style.
Part Tupac, part Usher, Frank Ocean is refined hip hop with art & soul.
John Waters American anti jock.
Dressed up or down, plays out American pop cultural history with camp disregard.
Edwyn Collins Glaswegian indie.
Astute sense of blue eyed soul with Orange Juice, wrapped up in fey teenage chic.
Yohji Yamamoto Japanese modern master.
With the air of an art historian and attire of a master craftsmen, he is the intellectual style heavyweight.
Jacques Cousteau Nautical utilitarian.
The French approach to workwear with chambray, denim, beanie & pipe.
Mark E Smith Anti fashion troubador.
Like Jarvis Cocker on an industrial estate, he is no compromise growing old disgracefully.
Nicolas Anelka Progressive Football.
Belligerent, stylish, well travelled ex Gooner with that beard, those glasses and good tracksuits aplenty.
Geoff McFetridge Designer Dad.
Former Beautiful Loser and all round NYC hipster, turned gentle LA man o' taste.
George Harrison Understated Beatle.
Managed transition from 60s to 70s whilst effortlessly looking good, most often in denim.
Terry Hall Midlands suedehead.
Epitome of front man cool, minimal rude boy style and knowing nonchalance.
Jamel Shabazz Street sports.
The documenter of emergant 1980s NYC hip hop culture, the sweet spot of music, style & image.
Ivan Lendl East European on court steel.
Sunken eyes, fuck you attitude, graphite racquet, adidas sportswear. Immense.
Gene McDaniels Mod favourite.
Jazz and soul nice guy, managing politics and pop with sartorial excellence.
Chris Lowe Casual with a brain.
The Pet Shop Boy who understands cultural significance & fetishisation of mens brands.
Raf Simons Modernist darling.
Less is more for this master of effortless cool; A Belgian with a love for all things Factory records.
JJMarshall Associates Creative Agency
We are image makers, designers, brand builders; creating iconic style for fashion brands.
Black & White Digest No 013
A collection of themed visual notes.
This issue inspired by beautiful marques.
The notion of branding – denoting ownership & creating recognition, is as old as trade itself. But some, like the above, just do it so well.
From physical on product applications to screen-based animation, developing a brand identity still requires design judgement, technical skills and marketing awareness.
As brand's ambitions evolve from product manufacturers to global publishers and facilitators, creative marketeers must be well versed in all aspects of content & media.
At JJMarshall Associates we help fashion clients modernise and consolidate with a one stop service of strategy & execution.
We work both at the conception of projects and on rebranding – establishing identities, guidelines, creating platforms and generating content (Ark Air is a military clothing supplier entering the premium casualwear market).
Graphic design breeds its own very special type of obsessive, not helped in least that it's a male dominated arena. But the langauge of marques cross boundaries and cultures to inspire and unite Mac users around the globe.
Surprisingly few songs dedicated to graphics, even though they share deep connections with baseline grids and the occasional flourish. Aside from German punk rock there is only one artist who has captured the spirit of typography: Kylie.
During her tricky late 90's period, she released 'German Bold Italic' with Japanese dance legend Towa Tei. Expressing such sincerity in her geisha performance and font love that this is yet another reason why she remains a, umm, sans serif icon.
Follow for fashion, architecture, landscape, design & jackhuahuas @jjmarshallassociates
BLACK & WHITE DIGEST No 012
A collection of themed visual notes.
This issue inspired by M O V I N G I M A G E.
JJMarshall Associates is a Creative Agency based in London. We design and produce beautiful & effective communication.
Televisual
Traditional fashion photography is alive and well - print ads and billboards are still the big money platforms for beauty, glamour & dreams; lavish productions still indulge the handful of global luxury brands with the investment & atmosphere of a different era.
But the digital realm, the democratisation of equipment, the change in shopping habits mean a radical shift today in what assets are needed to help sell the garments we dont really need. Stories need to be told in frequent, economic, clever ways through a multitude of different media. We originate compelling ideas and shoot photography alongside moving image alongside copywriting alongside design. It's seamless - one process, one team for a multitude of channels & applications - click the images & links for audio visual treats.
Kenzo, Jonze
Subvert the glamour, embrace the medium - a genius combination of Spike Jonze & Kenzo means a win-win for this stylish, anti-romance fragrance spectacular (4min). If you spend,
spend well. Jonze is the creative director's creative director, with his 25yr showreel of cool,
more of him later.
49 Winters
We put moving image at the heart of the identity and assets we created for the launch of this luxury outerwear brand. Using layers of video content we created rich product-specific guides and context to demonstrate the 'style x science' inherent in the collection.
French
Then there is the French, where character and style are always played out in film
or on runways... favourites APC create irregular gems, especially with the American-friendly Louis W colabs (3min).
Andersons
We embraced the artisan skills and charisma of traditional Italian leather work for x3 films(3min), plus the photography, website, look book etc we made for new client Andersons. An exercise in telling a heritage story which looks forward as much as back.
Yout'
Palace do it well, phenomenally well. They own self deprecating skate humour and lace it with daytime TV graphics, the best riders and deep house. Knowing. Some 350K views on this Reebok promo, but they have many more across their channel.
Folk
We created a series of gentle, slo-mo product studies for Folk shot in the late summer sunshine of coastal Dorset (1min). These part of several simple productions dovetailing perfectly with their tactile, modern aesthetic.
Choreography
Balenciaga show how to combine theatre and fashion in this beautiful choreographed piece for their Resort collection (3min), one of many showing the big talent of Nicolas Ghesquière.
Wrangler
We work with large and small clients, niche designers to world-renowned brands.
Last year we made a pan Asian campaign (3min) for long standing client Wrangler,
all based around motorcycle journeys. Our Washington state lumber yard was another
favourite (2min).
Dior Homme
Willy Vandeperre is an image maker extraordinaire, equally adept with any lens he so chooses. The ground breaking work with Kriss van Asche for Dior Homme (3min) raised the bar for how 'fashion film' can look and how it's used. The subsequent 'Underpass' (3min) also strong.
Skate
Them skaters love to film, by it's nature it demands moving images and clothing companies have been trying to use their effortless cool for their own means ever since Glen E Friedman documented the initial scene in the 70s. That man Spike Jonze created the blueprint in '91 for how the lo-fi skate films have looked ever since (VHS anyone?) with Mark Gonzales et al (24min). Adam Kimmels valley longboarding in suits is good (10min) Whilst everyone from Hermes (2min) to Man About Town(3min) have cashed in with crass endearing style.
Les Basics
We created a Fr'Anglais minimal monochrome identity for this new London menswear
brand and sewed a slo-mo video thread throughout the comms. Including new season look book with serene Mac (3min).
Skandi
Not forgetting the Scandinavian high street progressives, H&M. This Russian split screen treatment for their 'conscious' range (2min), mmm. Try also the knowing, cool craft of Cos and their audio visual games (3min).
Arcade Fire
OK not a fashion film, not even a music video - an edit (6min) from, ahem, Spike Jonze short 'Sound of the suburbs'. Spirited, naturalistic, cool, dark... his third entry in the JJM digest. As this mailer wont cover music videos, there will be no mention of Beyonce's 'Formation' or Pet Shop Boys/ Bruce Weber 'Being Boring'. Phew.
Real Film
So lastly not even a music promo, but a 1960s educational video (28mins). From Canada. Made with such restraint, style, charm and location gold that it has to be included in this collection of good audio visal things. Paddle to the sea (*Denton).
BLACK & WHITE DIGEST No 011
A collection of themed visual notes.
This issue inspired by M E N S W E A R .
JJMarshall Associates is a Creative Agency based in London. We design and produce beautiful & effective communication.
Menswear Formation
Menswear is in our, ahem, genes. With over 15 years of creating content, campaigns & strategies for some of the biggest (and smallest) brands on the planet, we know our YMC from our LVC; so as fashion’s unseasonal seasonal calendar kicks in we play fantasy wardrobe with our preferred menswear brands and select our spring summer ’16 team. Acknowledging the strong sportswear & utility stories plus the continuing importance of Japan & America, we layer them all up in an ambitious 3:3:4 formation.
Consistent Performance
White Mountaineering are our uncompromising, reliable characters between the posts. The Japanese outdoor fashion brand keep Stone Island and 6876 out of the team due to their adidas collaborations and enigmatic status. Even the socks are great.
Core Quality
A defensive back line which includes toughness, versatility and utility. At left back Carhartt, born in America raised in Germany, the very acceptable face of workwear. Creating menswear staples that withstand skateboarding and private views. APC colabs don't hurt either...
Muji is the much improved, seasoned centre back. Lending accessibility and quality to their unbranded Japanese credentials. Check out their twin fabric shirting and customisable pumps.
No name demure.
The new comer (and our new client) is modern essentials brand, Les Basics, a North European hybrid which does ordinary very very nicely; invest in a black cotton waffle tee. Watch them graduate to more forward positions through the season.
Creative Class
Experience and art in our midfield. In the centre of the wardrobe team (Iniesta if you like) is the undeniable depth and class of the Swedish Acne; they are the whole package, skilled through garment design to publishing they make a big impression from denim to tailoring. On fire.
To compliment the two tall creatives, we bring in a humble brand & manufacturer whom play consistently with high quality classics: John Smedley go about their business of supplying great knitwear from Derbyshire for an International style audience. Wonder if they would make a sea island cotton team kit...
In right midfield are the detail-obsessed Folk (another new client); their Caledonian, artful verve creates unique casualwear that justifies their national adoration. Important signing, replacing APC in the European staple department.
Dynamic Character
We combine maverick flair with dynamic vision in the final third. Busy New Yorkers, Public School, are deserved centre forwards with their always-contemporary collections mixing Americana and high fashion. DKNY consultancy must be keeping them busy but doesn’t seem to affect their feel good presentation and downtown persona.
On the left wing, whipping wicked crosses and the occasional overhead kick is LA’s Palm Angels. A book before being a brand, armed with a super good website and creating a ludicrous luxe skate collection. they are the crowd pleasers with Palace in the dug out.
Matthew Miller is the LCM hero: runways with intelligence, awareness and attitude. Treating fashion as cultured product design he eschews glamour gimmickry for wearable wisdom.
The next Raf.
On the wing is brand new Japanese label, Blackyoto (new client) who are thoroughly innovative in their entire garment creation - mixing vintage utility garments with a kimono dying process ; they operate with pace and tactical awareness.
.. and will need a sophisticated arena in which to perform, so we propose the Prada Stores of football stadia: La Bombonera, home to the mighty Boca Juniors.
BLACK & WHITE DIGEST No 010
A collection of themed visual notes.
This issue inspired by the INTERNATIONAL.
JJMarshall Associates is a Creative Agency based in London. We design and produce beautiful & effective communication.
Internationalist
The world is indeed getting smaller. As digital platforms help breakdown trade & cultural differences all brands have the potential to be global players and the qualities of integrity, originality & relevance are more important than ever. Blessed with working in the world's designated language of business and based out of London, the city standing on the meridian of
East and West, we are ideally placed to create stylish campaigns & content which resonate
with progressive consumers everywhere.
Soviet
Gosha Rubchinskiy is a true original, creating his own genre and becoming Russia’s counter culture poster boy. His combination of naivety & social realism lends his work the style and authenticity that has seduced European & Asian fashion fans. This introduction of an undocumented Russian youthful spirit into global streetwear & image making has made him a kind of Soviet Larry Clark of the 80s terraces.
PCF
Our work with Japanese denim brand MasterCraft Union is a meeting of like minds as we demonstrate how modern premium denim can be presented and interpreted to create one of the most desirable jean labels in Europe. We shot the latest campaign at the 1968 French Communist party HQ designed by radical Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer, filmed by Swedish/ Spanish Boris Hallvig & modelled by the Osakan Taka. The Internationalists would be proud.
Epic
Taking the whole notion of identity, land & ownership, this soon to be released book documents the incredible journey of artist Alex Hartley’s discovery and then securing of a splinter of Norwegian land and it's journey to the South West of England as part of the 2012 London Olympiad. Nowhere Island/ Now here is land is a beautiful photographic documentary of that unique International project from conception through to completion. Enquire.
Bungalows
No one embraces aspirational modernism like South America. That continent’s elite see refined, concrete & glass as the zenith of sophistication, damn right. Brazil and Argentina have been leading the way since the 50s with Buenos Aires and Sao Paolo reaping the rewards, but this hotel development in Uruguay looks like an International dream with a complex of the best looking bungalows in the world.
Youth
If British monthly style titles were the natural home of street style in the 80s & 90s, daily blogs have taken up the mantle and are where you find the world's young fashionistas. Check the influential Luka Sabbat (and A$AP mob) whose sub Buffalo style is all about Hood by Air,Raf Simons, Margiela, Off White - the post hipster uniform. He mixes chic classic European menswear, with progressive streetwear to create the template for Asian moneyed youth.
Public
Occasionally there is a piece of populist public ‘art’ that is so engaging that cities clamour to install it in their commerce-heavy public spaces. The kooky perspective-defying work of
Leandro Erlich succeeded, as does the recent see-saw installation in Montreal which combines participation, fun and visual ingenuity - the most shareable of on and offline qualities.
Hoping that Lateral Office installation travels to Europe this year.
Inclusive
With the muslim female fashion market said to be worth €350million it’s no wonder that Western designers are recognising the benefits of designing products for all women. D&G are the latest runway designers to create a specific collection with their signature decorative style. More affordable is the recent Uniqlo collaboration with Hana Tajima showing a more everyday solution to ‘culturally sensitive’ clothing; whilst Capsters football hijabs begin to address ‘modesty sportswear'. From an academic perspective, Reina Lewis’ recent books examine the sociological and cultural implications of Western brands wooing the emergent cross-faith transnational youth.
Our most favourite elegant and original global fashion campaign comes from Céline.
Matching the sophistication of the moderne clothing, the ads demonstrate such demure confidence as to belittle their ostentatious competition. Whether on billboards in Seoul, shopping malls in Dubai or the back page of The Guardian, this is luxury image making at its very best.
Shot by Juergen Teller & art directed by Peter Miles.
Tumblr
Our preferred social channel is tumblr, creative-industry-arama and barely any selfies.
Amongst the many photographers we follow is French town & country Lionel Aléze who documents his local Lyon environment with such calm, exhaustive respect that we have become very familiar with the streets & countryside of the Eastern French city.
Type
The International Typographic Style is the most influential movement in graphic design of the
last 100 years. Born from Russian, German & Dutch art of the 1920s and developed in Suisse
in the 50s, it's the style that has become the shortcut to 'cool' in contemporary commercial design.
Flat, grid based, sans-serif type, minimal, juxtaposed with photography and phew, no drop shadows in site. We subscribe.
Sounds
Is there a musical genre more knocked than World Music? Check this fearless, strong statement of intent from Stella Chiweshe. She took the Bhundu Boys baton of Zimbabwe music and humbles us with art & sincerity; an African mix of PJ Harvey & Ian Curtis perhaps.
BLACK & WHITE DIGEST No 009
A collection of themed visual notes.
This issue inspired by S H O P P I N G .
JJMarshall Associates is a Creative Agency based in London. We design and produce beautiful & effective communication.
Shops
Often described in elevated terms as ‘retail’ or in faux Americana as ‘stores’, we have
compiled (not ‘curated’) a list of our favourite fashion shops. These physical spaces
where we visit, dream, purchase are the inspirational conduits between maker and customer.
They mean more than interactive screens with baskets; at their best they provide a stimulating,
efficient, special, spending experience and at worst are divisive & ugly cells.
As a studio dedicated to creating ideas & content for brands, we always work with the
physical as well as the printed and digital in mind.
Arts & Science
Tokyo and its many distinct neighbourhoods have the most prolific, crafted, clever shops on the planet. Indies, boutiques, own-brand, department stores all executed with love and originality.
We could have chosen any number of examples but have gone for studious Arts & Science
who spread themselves through several different sites and emphasis - womens/mens/ footwear/ lifestyle etc and create communication, events, exhibitions to offer a thoroughly modern,
holistic shopping culture.
Hermés
The recent refit of their London store proves that this iconic French leather goods manufacturer understands very well the modern notion of luxury. The impeccable use of materials, shape, line & colour make this the true jewel of Bond Street - the acceptable face of the uber wealthy.
Palace
Still in its infancy but with such experienced, smart brains behind this skateboarding label that their nonchalant confidence is entirely justified. Skate stores shouldn’t be minimal, shouldn’t
have marble-mosaic floor, shouldn’t feel like you’re in LA but thats what they’ve done on central London’s new most fashionable street: Brewer St, Soho; where the sex industry is rapidly
being replaced by food & clothing.
10 Corso Como
A maverick institution which helped invent the notion of the ‘concept store’.
Well known in Europe with their Milanese artful, beautiful courtyard home and edit of
beautiful things, Carla Sozzani's vision is now taking hold in Asia with sites in Beijing,
Seoul and Shanghai. The shopping experience here is complete: joyful, surprising
and elegant - old money kooky. Molto Bene.
Army Surplus
Provincial European and American towns still usually have some clothing shop salvation -
the local army & navy surplus store. With racks of warm, dry, well-made, good value apparel
& accessories plus occasional brilliant one-off finds which 6876 or Nigel Cabourn would
be proud of. Whilst Silvermans, East London, has the most comprehensive array of.. everything, check out Xsport in East Midlands for a warehouse of outdoor booty.
Haven
Vancouver is unnaturally blessed with many good menswear stores, its geography and young demographic, perhaps, facilitating great taste and interest. On a recent visit we were mighty seduced by Haven, an open plan warm wood shrine to all things avant garde sportswear.
Having sidestepped the ample heritage movement you’re left with the choicest, Asian hipster brand list that everyone in the know references. V.Cool.
John Lewis
More recently the UK's high street success story, but have been wonderfully consistent in their approach to comprehensive product offer, simple merchandising, quiet marketing and excellent empowered staff & customer service. We have written at length about their branding & window displays, but perhaps it's the Barbara Hepworth Winged Figure that looks down over Oxford Street that makes this such a perfect model of democratic shopping.
Dover Street Market
Comme des Garcon's concept department store, where the masters of avant grade invite their favourite peers to come join their shopping party to create the most radical fashion environments in London, New York, Tokyo. Installation and sculptures double as merchandising areas/ props, store assistance double as models/ muses. We created a launch installation for adidas adicolor range in the London branch, a pop art window special. Visiting/ shopping here washes
your eyes and opens your mind.
The Bureau
The UK (still) has plenty of multi brand menswear stores who carefully ride the fashion/style tightrope for the 20 & 30 something straight man in regional towns and cities.
Sometimes owned and run by highly knowledgable, worldly, tasteful folk who take punts
and risks on random labels…which helps our industry stay progressive. One such is The Bureau in Belfast, launched in 1989. The shop has seen modest expansion, set in open
plan adjacent units with a cool, gents club feel. Complimented with highly informed/
informal assistance + great Anglo/ American label selection. V.Good.
Cigue
OK, not a shop but the current retail designers du jour who have helped created an entirely
new shopping aesthetic with the ever expanding Aesop. This highly modern success story uses
product trialling, tea making, lab equipment, foliage etc to set their product in context and
most importantly each shop is site specific, no lazy roll outs here.
Cigue are also responsible for the ‘organic minimalism’ of the Isabel Marant stores and French modernism of Études Studio. Tres Bien.
Alternative
Of course, we buy fashion items in increasingly non traditional environments. The rise of the
pop up store (or was it guerilla shop?) has been prolific during last 10 years and there are hundreds of savvy examples; we like to think that we created one of the first of the kind when
in 2003 for adidas, we took an empty unit on Carnaby Street for the Wimbledon fortnight filled it
with grass and archive tennis shoes and sold limited edition Stan Smiths etc
Factory stores have always been a more local, cost effective route to buying premium price items but as manufacture has left Europe there are fewer opportunities… but John Smedley in Derbyshire and Trickers in Northampton for good, trad British kit.
Sample sales have turned from jumble sales for friends&family to a premium ‘club’ invite only, good looking affairs. Curate Private Sales do a great job of this updated shopping culture.
Then there is the distinctly personal, designer-maker approach whereby as needs must, customers are invited to the offices/ studios themselves to purchase goods in the very room from which
they are devised. Check out the highly tasteful world of ‘Several’ in the fashionable
Rochelle School, London E2.
Wuhao
This Shanghai cultural experience, in which shopping is a by product to the exhibits, was named by *Wallpaper as one of the '20 reasons to visit China'. Fashion mixes with furniture, art, objets, accessories etc to create a rarified temple-like environment surrounded by bamboo gardens.
Proof that challenging, crafted, experimental retail is not just a Japanese commodity.
Stella Dallas
Not forgetting pre-loved, vintage, antique or well, second hand clothes shopping. Executed well, step forward 10ft Single by Stella Dallas, they are literally treasure troves that will consumer hours of your life. American-made workwear and sportswear has generally lasted better than any other casual clothing in terms of style and quality.... indeed 90% of mens casualwear is pretty much based on it. Relive the American dream in Brookyln in this exemplar.
BLACK & WHITE DIGEST No 006
A collection of progressive visual notes.
This issue inspired by N E W N E S S .
JJMarshall Associates is a Creative Agency based in London. We design and produce beautiful & effective communication.
NEWNESS
The world does not need any more clothing brands, but it seems we have an insatiable appetite for newness. After a decade of looking to the past for inspiration a new international school of bright people are engaged in creating aspirational modern products & experiences.
Public School
Defying categorisation, Public School are a new American label that unusually don't take their cue from ivy league, workwear or sportswear.
"We started from a street base, but our influences are higher fashion" the NYC duo claim, the result is beautifully casual avant grade. Showing men's and women's collections on runway, they show thoroughly American ambition and push a modern category that doesn't yet exist.
Studio Nicholson
Nick Wakeman's elegant 'uniform' for women is about high quality, sophisticated product design.
Combining Italian luxury, British styling & a Japanese aesthetic, it's a creative industries hit.
We have been flattered to work with the team in establishing an on & offline identity that is as good as the clothing itself.
Universal Products
The in-house clothing line of uber low key/ high style Tokyo retailer 1LDK.
'Lifestyle brand' is too trite for this exemplary Japanese initiative that takes in apartments, homeware, food as well as beautifully curated clothing. 'Effortless' is not easy, but 1LDK make it seem that way.
Études
Clothing, publishing and concept by Parisian creatives, Etudes Studio.
This is a supreme art direction exercise in creating a total aesthetic thru every touchpoint.
The exemplary French avant garde styling is a showcase for the studio's broader design service and demonstrates their skill across digital, 3D, print & product. Jealous.
Saturdays
Not exactly new, but impressively irrepressibly modern artisan Brooklyn. Including surf lifestyle, tick; covetable clothing, tick; fair trade coffee, tick; excellent in-house magazine and digital world, tick. A case study in modern branding born out of a good idea + ambition, passion & rigorous execution.
1205
A men's & women's collection from St Martin's graduate Paula Gerbases which reflects her academic weight and Savile Row training.
She has an 'exacting view on craft, cut and fabric' arriving at her garments via progressive mills in England, Switzerland, Italy & Japan. But this is not rarified couture, but a modern design brand with a radically clinical point of view. Unsurprisingly it translates best in the sophisticated Japanese market.
Tracksmith
Sportswear has been sidelined in menswear circles for past 6 years, as heritage and performance have been the go-to directions.
But as cleanliness returns, so does a new luxe, minimal ath-leisure movement. New Tracksmith seem to be the Rapha of running culture, created with an unswerving modern American charm/ passion/ marketing. The selective SKUs & gentle styling is a smart, resourceful apparel approach. Straight outta Boston.
Mastercraft Union
Taking an uncompromising approach to using only the finest materials and fusing them with best factories in Japan & Italy, MCU is a label that understands the importance of denim provenance but also of projecting a thoroughly modern aesthetic. JJMarshall Associates have worked closely with them on their introduction to the trade and to consumers, creating a distinct look & feel across all their visual communication.
Several
New British outfit operating from the prestigious Rochelle School in Shoreditch, London.
This designer, clothier, retailer demonstrates that less is more, manufacture trumps branding and good taste English menswear doesn't have to rehash upper class, pastiche vintage or cod mod schmutter.
OAMC
Brand new, high level French/ Italian meeting of minds. This is the benchmark of modern menswear in fabrication & detailing, Utility-luxe.
"Only the references for OAMC are traditional; everything else has been updated. Looking at the past provides the inspiration, embracing the future is the foundation."
Future Islands
Forgive the category meandering, but some output is cool because sincerity & originality beat vanity and 'good taste'. We have come late to North Carolina indie synth art pop band Future Islands, but this recent 'Letterman performance is worthy of pop culture authenticity and surreal newness.
BLACK & WHITE DIGEST No 005
A collection of progressive visual notes.
This issue inspired by C A S T I N G .
JJMarshall Associates is a Creative Agency based in London. We design and produce beautiful & effective communication.
The Protagonist
The first question we consider in any image making commission is who? For in the sea of visual fashion noise the quality of character is the most effective tool to cut through and engage the viewer.
As a full service direction & production facility the why, where & how of course are quick to follow, but we take pride in our casting ability and care to deliver 'people' not models with integrity and instinctive reason to be the embodiment of a designer or brand e.g. Our Wrangler Man.
Marc Jacobs
Juergen Teller has established a unique relationship with Marc Jacobs and the combination of character/ photography & design has helped make the MJ campaigns the most iconic pieces of advertising of last 10 years. With German wit and confidence he plucks the unlikely & the notorious and captures them effortlessly in the antithesis of luxury advertising rules. The mighty Peter Miles compilation book, Marc Jacobs Advertising 1998 - 2009 reads like Juergen Tellers celebrity scrapbook, albeit the most beautifully art directed and cast one ever produced.
Stacy Martin
On some occasions we discover real talent in the many go-sees process and are inevitably drawn by the extra curricular activities of models in acting, music, arts etc; we worked with Stacy Martin a few times before her burgeoning acting career has sent her off to A league status as Lars von Trier's latest muse (Nymphomaniac) and luxury fashion houses knocking on her door. She has presence, poise & beauty beyond her years and long may she reign. Here for us, with Scholl.
Saint Laurent
The first runway designer to challenge the media and public in their preconceptions of what is beauty and aspiration, Yves Saint Laurent cast women of all creed and colour in the 1970's to break the taboos and extend the luxury market beyond wealthy white Europeans. His flamboyance and stylistic vision inspired editorial photography to open their world to a more inclusive use of models and thus to the wider advertising world in general. Benetton famously picked up the baton in the 80's with Oliviero Toscani's work in representing the new 'Global Village' world, but there is still much progress to be made in challenging the Caucasian dominance in media: We marketeers and image makers all have a responsibility here.
Boyd Holbrook
Our favourite cast male character of the last few years has been the enigmatic Boyd Holbrook, frustrated artist resident of NYC and emerging film star in cult movies such as 'Milk' and 'Behind The Candelabra'. His vulnerability will probably prevent him from breaking into the mainstream, but as a character in fashion photography he combined brooding Cobain-esque American good looks and convivial professionalism. Perfect for our Levi's.
Martin Margiela
The genius that is Martin Margiela sidesteps the model issue with an obtuse solution to ensuring that character or celebrity should never distract from the clothes on show: obscure their eyes/ face. Close down the pretence & let the clothes seduce the viewer.
Cultural Currency
In menswear advertising Prada and even Dunhill shun fashion models altogether as icons from worlds of art, film, literature etc are portrayed as stately ambassadors who just happen to be wearing the designers clothes. This borrowing of cultural weight represents the win win deal for both parties but is rarely seen outside of the mens market.
As Sarah Bunter, our casting director, says "It remains imperative within male aspiration (therefore menswear) to appear ‘informed’ – from the top tiers to the terraces. Age brings knowledge & acquisitions and therefore is nothing to be feared or concealed. Where is our equivalent within womenswear?"
Street Cast
We often include street casting to widen the net for appropriate projects, it can be a useful add on for multi-character video & stills shoots. For 3 seasons with Timberland Boot Company we cast entirely with local characters in 3 different London communities, creating a real representation of the people within that area and reflecting the diversity of the brands customers themselves. This was an anti-celebrity approach writ large.
Calvin Klein
Symbolising an entire decade, the Calvin Klein imagery of the 90's was an innovative mirror held to the genderless, paired back, sexual, rootless world of twenty somethings. What seems cliched now was brave for jeans & fragrance advertising with the messed-up, post Bruce Weber work of Sorrenti, Testinos, McDean et al. But the casting with its emphasis on diversity, reality & subtle rebellion was 80% of the impact… and one Kate Moss lingers as one of the shrewdest casting decisions ever taken.
Mastercraft Union
For the launch of a new jeans label using Italian & Japanese textiles/ manufacturing techniques, we worked with new face & local fashion student Taka with his incredible androgynous qualities and model proportions… (ultimately of course, its a huge advantage if the clothes actually fit). We figured there is ultimately only so many beards and tattoos that people can tolerate in the denim world…
Fast Fashion
Social media have made models of us all and the speed & democracy of product depiction within this channel is appealing, however its no solo replacement for crafted work & curation. Scott Schuman hit gold with his kinda Cartier-Bresson-commissioned-by-Conde-Nast' approach to showing aspirational style as naturally worn by metropolitan movers and shakers, in his Sartorialist blog. Its difficult not to fall for the NYC fashion signori or Parisian beatnik couturiers and as displays of real character & genuine style, its hard to beat.
Franco Pop
A different genre of course with no responsibility to sell clothes, so a tenuous inclusion. But great casting, special forehands, 90's French Air.
BLACK & WHITE DIGEST No 003
A collection of progressive visual notes.
This issue inspired by the hardy perennial:D E N I M .
JJMarshall Associates is a Creative Agency based in London. We design and produce beautiful & effective communication.
Cool
This subjective scrapbook of denim indulgence and inspiration doesn't contribute to the well-documented origins, manufacture or brands of jeans. Instead it's a celebration of a textile which, more than any other, denotes an effortless style & attitude of its wearer: most interestingly the disenfranchised and the libertarians from varied backgrounds. Intrinsically linked with youth, action & culture we celebrate character, context & our denim cool.
Joseph Szabo
First off, photographer of American youth: Joseph Szabo, who captured the lifestyle of real teenagers in real places doing their own thing. Seminal book, Teenage, is a collectors item extraordinaire crammed full of real denim stories.
Marvin Gaye
No surprises that popular music embraces jeans as the shorthand route to cool and the blogosphere is over run with the usual odes to denim legends. But most examples are formulaic and most descend to cliche. We start with Marvin Gaye and his soulful, early 70's, down-time double denim.
Bowie, Cherry
Mavericks showed new ways to wear the fabric: Off duty Bowie in glam-utility, the electro northern soul of Low; he rarely puts a foot wrong. Neneh Cherry and her West London Buffalo style, post-modernism in streetwear and the triumph of styling over design.
Harrison, Weller
The m'ockers George Harrison & Paul Weller, demonstrating how to wear a workwear garment with British urbane style. Harrison the only Beatle with any sense of style & Weller, President of the Style Council and saving grace of The Jam.
Bad Brains
Punks lived in their jeans, tattered and torn, rarely with style but Bad Brains broke all the rules mixing West Indian, military and denim for a cacophony of hardcore noise, hair and cool.
Chris Lowe
Menswear afficionado Chris Lowe of the Pet Shop Boys and his adoption of Italian 'Paninari': the template of trainers, stone-wash jeans, loose shirt & sports jacket which became de rigeur for 'casuals in Northern Europe. Suburbia would never look so well dressed.
JJMarshall Associates
We have been working with denim labels since the late 90's: Italian, British & Japanese brands and a couple of really really bigAmerican ones. As image makers we share a responsibility to keep the denim market compelling: The common link is the need for great storytelling to depict their products richly, naturally & seductively. In the contrived world of fashion marketing we bring genuine character, individual style and aspiration to the product-promotion imagery. Art Direction, of course, is our forté.
Basquiat, Blake & Pollock
Denim appropriated from manual labour to creativity as post-war artist movements each took jeans as their uniform, from the Americana-obsessed pop artists of Andy Warhol and Peter Blake to the more physical and expressive painting of Jackson Pollock and later Jean Michel Basquiat. Pollock in particular spawned a thousand imitators and along with Brando, Dean & Presley et al must be credited in popularising this workwear staple as a symbol of rebellion & style in the 50's.
Hopper, Rampling
Like the music industry, film was/ is quick to adopt the evocative power of denim in storytelling. There are well documented films & actors which are entirely synonymous with jeans, but we choose the brooding sexiness of Anglo-French chanteuse Charlotte Rampling and brooding psychosis of Dennis Hopper in his 1971 self-documentary The American Dreamer, here we see macho Americana played out with true, misfit charisma. Whilst Ramplings 1970s on & off screen persona best capture the liberated ease, simplicity & beauty of denim lifestyle,
Chuck D
Denim has long been the choice of counter culture movements & protest, from civil rights in the USA to Eastern European revolt. This symbol of freedom is the uniform of the American dream and its export shows no sign of diminishing; but its accessibility & democratic appeal is always attractive and when radicals as compelling as Gill Scott Heron or Public Enemy's Chuck D wear it with such style and authority we learned that denim can be subverted and reinvented and continue to be powerful uniform.
Note, he is photographed here by Glen E Friedman, the prolific photographer/ documenter of American alternative music thru the 80s & 90s. Fuck you Heroes is the seminal anti-jock denim book of the last 20 years.
BLACK & WHITE DIGEST No 002
A random collection of progressive visual notes.
This issue inspired by the London oasis:B A R B I C A N.
JJMarshall Associates is a Creative Agency based in London. We design and produce beautiful & effective communication.
Cultural Real Estate
Design for modern living : Influenced by Le Corbusier's Unite d'habitation, the Barbican Estate is a city within a city, an outlier & an enclave, the unique result of progressive town planning & urban architecture after bombs had flattened the area in the blitz. Designed by CPB (whose only previous work was the neighbouring Golden Lane Estate) the project took 30yrs to fully realise and has consistently sustained as many detractors as fans. Its arts centre, schools, offices & accommodation span across 40 acres with over 2,100 apartments. The location, the tranquility, the concrete, the library, the tennis courts & the galleries make this our brutalist jewel in the City of London's crown.
Town Magazine
Concept, Direction, Design & Production : We make stylish, intelligent fashion communication with integrity & efficiency. Thats what we do commercially and editorially, created in-house and with our rich source of associates. Having shot in The Brunswick Centre, The Royal Festival Hall & Golden Lane we were relishing the opportunity to shoot an International, scholastic story at the Barbican for current issue of Town Magazine. We were fortunate to be accommodated by the Guildhall School of Music and Drama: a kind of modernist Fame school for the gifted & talented. See more at this link and throughout the JJMarshall' portfolio site.
Bibliotheque
The Ultras : The only superfluous decoration in Bibliotheque's studio is the many awards that are hoisted upon them, for they are the designers graphic designers: pure, rigorous and unerringly professional. No surprise then that they are much sought after by cultural institutions to make sense of their identity and their exhibits. The Barbican had little choice in their commission of Jon, Mason & Tim to handle their Le Corbusier exhibition, a triumvirate of modernist minds - Corb' at the Barb' by Biblio'. They are also early collaborators of JJMarshall Associates, having worked closely on adidas and Motorola jobs, we like to think that our unfussy, naturalistic approach to visual communication compliments the cleanliness & clarity of their typography.
Modern House
Property Porn : Founded by journalists Albert Hill and Matt Gibberd, The Modern House is an estate agents like no other. Taking the simple premise of selling property based on style & quality rather than location, they solely market 'modern' homes of architectural integrity. The result is an ever-changing online portfolio of mouth watering houses and apartments from 1930 to the present day. For this reason they are the go-to agents for properties in the various Barbican towers and blocks, including this one pictured high up with its central London views. Damn.
Curve Gallery
Temporary Installations : Embracing the avant garde, the Curve Gallery hosts the most radical work in the Arts Centre program. Upcoming this month is the turn of multimedia arts group, United Visual Artists. Favourites of last few years have been the popular Rain Room by genius Random International (motion control sensors connected to giant sprinkler system, giving perception of controlling rain) and the guitar-playing Finchs' by crazy Céleste Boursier-Mougenot (birds let loose on electric guitars throughout the day). Occasionally the modernist sobriety needs this behaviour.
Golden Lane
Secondary Modern : We have created stories, look-books & campaigns all around the familiar EC1/ EC2 area, from the real-market scenario of Whitecross St to the meat-market world of Spitalfields. But our favourite metropolitan 'English' setting is The Barbican's humble cousin & neighbour, Golden Lane Estate. This unpretentious, idyllic social housing scheme ticks all the boxes of sustainable urban living. Observations, rekky shots and landscape studies combine from our many travels & uploaded on our tumblr site...
Robin Day
Our Eames : The godfather of British modernist furniture, Robin Day, held the most suspiciously nebulous but fantastic role at The Barbican : Seating Consultant. Most famous for his 1960s polypropylene stacking chairs, he echoed the original Barbican principles of good design being readily available to all (At school in Britain during the 70s & 80s? you sat on this chair). For the Barbican he designed various auditorium and common-area seating, all with impeccable taste. Find original & reissues up the road in N1's twenty twenty one.
Saint Etienne
Pop cultural presents :Saint Etienne are the audio equivalent of the Barbican : quintessentially English, modern, progressive & knowing, but looking affectionately backwards most of the time. They have a long standing association with the Barbican Arts Centre with numerous film & music commissions and appearances. Look out for their pre-World Cup film screenings of British footballing documentaries including their recent ode to Hendon FC, Monty the Lamb, and we're hoping a possible inclusion of the wonderful 1961 West Bromwich Albion study, The Saturday Men.
