Art Comes First look at Fred Perry’s archive through a Dave Hendley lens for their new capsule collection
For their latest collection with long-time collaborators Fred Perry, Art Comes First’s Sam Lambert and Shaka Maidoh have delved into the brand’s substantial archive to inspire their rude boy appropriate designs. Adopted by different generations and subcultures since its inception in 1952, Fred Perry is synonymous with the rebellious spirit that Maidoh and Lambert have always instilled into their own immaculately cut menswear, giving this collaborative capsule an unmistakable edge.
The duo’s previous collection for the British brand have been inspired by such iconic musicians as Lee Scratch Perry and The Specials. “We love it when a piece has a rich story to tell so we can bring this to the modern day and live in the future. With the Fred Perry archive, it’s like we are kids in the candy store. There is so much culture in those pieces that link to so many people,” ACF say.
This is now ACF’s fifth collaboration with the heritage label and acts as a tribute to the late photographer Dave Hendley. Travelling to Jamaica in the late 1970s with Trojan Records, Hendley captured the spirit of rude boy culture, helping to bring it to the UK. And it’s to the young men captured in his timeless photographs that Lambert and Maidoh looked for reference because as they say, “Once rude boy you will always be rude boy.”
“Many of the Fred Perry archive pieces didn’t feel like clothing to us, they felt more like characters from Mr Hendley’s pictures, and that inspired us for days,” they say. “We’re very proud just to be able to continue telling that same story you see documented in those pictures, through clothing.”
ACF have unearthed some silhouettes that the brand is less known for and reworked them. This time around the signature tipped polo shirts are joined by a billowing bowling shirt and relaxed knitted tee in retro stripes. Archival swim shorts served as the jump off for a monochrome print while sharp indigo jeans are emblazoned with the creative collective’s artistic philosophy. Badges and patches throughout act as neat nods to the tailoring duo’s DIY aesthetic.
The gravity-defying campaign itself is set in an unmistakably British caff straight out of the 1970s and enlists the imagination and lens skills of photographer-meets-choreographer Benji Reid to bring the collection to life.
Read the interview with Art Comes First from Issue 2 of Nataal here