When John Hegarty asked me to Creative Direct Levi’s for BBH I didn’t realize Levi’s had been struggling. Levi’s hero product 501 was lacking relevance and was a high proportion of the business profit. Jim Carrol had a plan to reposition the 501 as a jean which didn’t fit. Anti-Fit. It was a truth of the product, 501’s are cut flat, with an A shape, so they have to be worn to take on the natural form of the body. It also tapped in to the culture of wearing over-sized low hanging jeans.
An amazing creative mind Nick Gill created the first two expression of Anti-Fit. I asked a wonderful creative team Toby Allen and Jim Hilson to extend it. The worked with Director Nick Gordon to create an award winning expression of the idea. ‘Bike’ and it was well loved – it was culturally relevant, cheeky and not like an ad and it led to Levi’s making a profit and 501 returning to becoming an icon.
The following year we looked for another way to express Anti-Fit. Nick Gill gave me a script entitled Midsummer, taking Shakespeare’s famous play, expressing love through the Anti-Hero, Bottom. Noam Murro directed the multi-award-winning film and we included Mendelssohn’s original score. I created a tiny edition of Shakespeare’s Midsummer Nights Dream to fit in the watch-pocket of the 501 in the Levi’s Flagship Stores. It was made from the same leather as Levi’s Leather Patch.
Caroline Pay created the final project for Anti-Fit. It was a film about kids fading denim in moonlight. I wanted to see if I could make a related billboard without adding information. Just edit, find meaning – the final image is a shot of the five shades of Denim which supported the campaign, organized into phases of the moon. The yellow button was a lucky find, and part of the Wash on the hero jean.
I began to realize the less I tried the more I began to reveal. Uncovering ideas without adding became a life-long passion.
Team
Levi’s Bike
Copy Writer – Toby Allen,
Art Director – Jim Hilson,
Creative Director – Marc Shillum,
Director – Nick Gordon,
Cinematographer – Seamus Mcgarvey.
Levi’s Midsummer
Copy Writer – Nick Gill,
Creative Director – Marc Shillum,
Director – Noam Murro,
Cinematographer – Barry Peterson.
Levi’s Moonbathing
Copy Writer – Caroline Pay,
Creative Director – Marc Shillum,
Director – Anthony Atanasio & Valerie Martinez,
Cinematographer – Daniel Landin