Spring-Summer 2022 didn’t start with an introspective moment, or a philosophical question churning in our minds. Instead, as we worked on the collection, one thing became clear. We were no longer defining the codes that define us personally and as a brand – we are refining them.
Ernest W. Baker continues to aspire to translate today’s heritage into tomorrow’s aesthetic, blending our cultural influences between European elegance and an American rawness.
One foot in the present, one foot in the future, Spring-Summer 2022 is about pushing further into this aesthetic territory, on the trail of two guides.
The first is Shakespeare, who entices us to a Midsummer’s Night Dream, that magical night where the impossible becomes possible. The second is Satoshi Kon, whose films portray a place between the world as we know it and fantasy – Perfect Blue comes to mind, with its highly stylized moments of emotion raining on the characters in the literal sense.
These references blended with our focus on the very young and the very old become an exploration of adolescent youth. That moment both fleeting and eternal between childhood’s dreams and adulthood’s realities.
From their example, we too took this ability to move between places and time. The clean sleekness of the 1950s; the dressed-up sportiness of our forefathers; hand-made elements, executed in a more stylized manner, at once treasures of old and new graphic ornaments. The School boy’s take on varsity jacket mixed with the Canadian tuxedo, dressed in a pattern of roses distressed into the denim, as if Satoshi Kon’s rain had imprinted the flowers into the very fabric.
Americana, one of the tenets of our work, can be recast not only as pride in one part of our roots, but as a by-word for the youthful hope that the country has embodied. The very embodiment of our intention to always reinterpret the past and inspire those into transforming the future, with a sense of nostalgia but without looking back.
As for this season’s presentation, we are inviting the viewer into an aesthetic world rather than incite a particular mood. Through a more precise showcasing of the cloths, our intent is to clarify what our brand stands for in terms of attitude, of wear, and of style.
Spring-Summer 2022 is our way of saying that hope is mostly fantasy and wishful thinking, but it always carries the possibility of becoming reality.
Inês Amorim & Reid Baker Viana do Castelo, Portugal June 2021 Directed By: Vladimir Kaminetsky Art Direction: Inês Amorim & Reid Baker Cinematographer: Juri Fantigrossi Styling: Mauricio Nardi Editor: Ilenia Zincone Music & Sound Design: Maurizio Bergmann & Paul Tinsley Camera Operator: Matteo Zenini Hair: Michael Delmas Models: Dries, Ibrahima Diaw & Paul Ebhart Organization: Portugal Fashion Production: SP Entertainment Ernest W. Baker Official Website: https://ernest-w-baker.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ernest_w_ba…
