Why Create, When You Can Just Copy?

The dearth of creativity, and following the blueprint

Let me say, this is SHIT, and it surely has to stop.

At some point over the past 5 years, a brand created a blueprint, which might be the most copied & churned I’ve seen in recent fashion. I’m talking about the Aimé Leon Dore look-book and styling. When I describe it without using pictures it doesn’t sound like something new. Probably because it isn’t. If we look back we can see that a lot of this is based on the fathers of American menswear campaigns; Brooks Brothers, Ralph Lauren and J. Crew. But ALD have managed to immerse the lifestyle of the people who wear the brand into everything the brand does, really effectively. From the first stores styled like a Parisian apartment, to the Café Leon Dore coffee shop on Mulberry street, and the loitering culture of the chronically unemployed influencers who rock the brand daily. It merged the rules of tailoring into casual, but refined, full looks with a comfy and relaxed core. Hoodies and bombers with tailored trousers and loafers; preppy suiting, with a rugby shirt and baseball cap, and always with good accessories, be-it their tote bags, lighters or bandanas and neckerchiefs. The backdrop for the lookbooks are usually warm and rich, with nods to lifestyle sports, mid-century interiors and modern working life - never too uptight.

These would often go viral on accounts like HighSnobiety, Hypebeast and Complex, with a catchy caption about how it “slaps” or whatever. The images always had rich undertones, soft backgrounds and relaxed posing, (almost always using a black model, which we could get into the racial dynamics and why also… you know why), creating a very approachable, sporty and “urban” feel to the brand. It brought the ultimatum of “I look like I haven’t even tried and I look this good”, casual, nonchalant style but absolutely trying very hard to look this way. But sooner or later this recipe was regurgitated by other brands. Most of them, cheaper alternatives to ALD; diffusion brands if you will. Styling their simple items with the same layering, copying the colour palettes, type face, and even the same set design. Their fanboys would likely then go and stand outside the ALD store in London and film content about their “fits”, often outside the Tiktok Arms or whatever that pub is called on Broadwick and Berwick street.

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Everything Comes From Something.

If we go back just a little bit, we can see where the ALD DNA came from, or at least what conceived it. Drake’s is a shop on Savile Row founded by Michael Drake in 1977. It is remarkably casual for a street with such a renowned sense of formality. Taking traditional workwear, tailoring and utilitarian pieces, an english sense of sprezzatura and a sports reference thrown in, they found the secret to being the cool kid on the row. Epitomised by their slogan ‘Relaxed elegance’, it’s this philosophy which allows them to create timeless, and very wearable pieces. They have since collaborated with New Balance, as have ALD, and so it would make sense that in 2021 they themselves would collab with their breakthrough American youthful counterpart, Aimè Leon Dore.

Drake's, Savile Row

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Going back further, and these items of clothing pop-up in the heritage American brands like the iconic Ralph Lauren campaigns shot by Bruce Weber, and now by James Harvey Kelly. And back even further you can see the mix of varsity jackets, knits, polos and tailored trousers from the likes of Brooks Brothers and J Crew. But the specific formula for this new wave of look-books is all Drakes and ALD.

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Die On The (Green) Hill

I am going to tell you everything that has been done over and over again by these brands. Some of them have added their own little spins, others have outright copied it pixel for pixel, and not even been shy about it - The About: Blank founder even said in an interview they saw ALD and Kith doing so well and wanted to do the same as them. Note: Please don’t call yourself a creative director or a designer. Showing that fashion really doesn’t care about plagiarism or copyrights at all. And consumers just want the same thing for a cheaper price, many of them don’t care about the story or the people they just want the look. So here is how its manufactured and regurgitated.

• Green is your hero colour - I honestly don’t even know why, but all of these brands love green.