Exclusive: London filmmaker Sharna Osborne presents a short film showcasing Raf Simons for Fred Perry’s A/W17 collection
- TextTed Stansfield
It’s been nine years since Raf Simons first brought his unique, modernist touch to Fred Perry. Season after season, the Belgian designer has succeeded in bringing bold and graphic design sensibilities to the British brand which, named after the three-time Wimbledon champion, began life with simple reworkings of the humble tennis shirt. Since the 60s, the label has maintained strong ties with British subculture, the spirit of which is captured in this new film featuring Raf Simons for Fred Perry’s A/W17 collection.
Previewed here, the film was imagined by London-based photographer and filmmaker Sharna Osborne, who counts designers such as Charles Jeffrey, Meadham Kirchhoff and Martine Rose as previous collaborators. Striving for a “meeting of two worlds” effect, Osborne chose to shoot the film at legendary music venue The 100 Club on Oxford Street, where the Sex Pistols, Siouxsie and the Banshees and The Clash all made punk history.
The venue has played host to a number of gigs put on by Fred Perry, featuring established acts such as The Fall and emerging talents like Cosmo Pyke. Upcoming gigs include Baxter Dury (Ian Dury’s son) and The Orielles, as part of the Subculture Live series. “Fred Perry has a strong relationship to the club, so we shot the collection on VHS,” says Osborne. “This echoed Raf’s first presentation – A/W95 – which he presented in a showroom via a film, that was also shot on VHS.”
To model the collection, Osborne and Fred Perry cast Montell Martin who previously starred in the campaign for Raf Simons’ Robert Mapplethorpe-inspired S/S17 collection. “Montell was cast for the film because of his associations with both brands,” says Osborne, “but his capacity to reveal both his beauty and sense of humour is what the film became about in the end.”
Watch Raf Simons for Fred Perry’s A/W17 campaign film below:
