Where does English gentility mix with British yob culture? I can think of a few London nightclubs that might be contenders, but in fashion terms the surprising answer is West Coast America.
Juicy Couture is unavailable in the UK (except perhaps for a small level of importing into boutiques), but its designs bear many cultural hallmarks of its isles. Take, for instance, the company’s logo, with its crown and rampant ‘scotty’ dogs. Typography that plays on the style of Old English manuscripts. Men’s wallets embossed with a crest that could have been stolen from Her Majesty. And a signature line of chav tracksuits of which Burberry would be proud.
What caught my eye this morning was an ad in the New York Times for the company’s new male fragrance, Dirty English. Its visual mix of a traditional bottle shape and crest, combined with characteristic scally chains and sovereign rings, makes for a heady and impacting blend of urban styles. Quite how this emerged in La La Land is something of a wonder.
It just goes to show the potency of American Anglophilia, here at its most subversive in retail terms. Quite splendid, innit?
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