Elia Kazan — Who Wore Khakis. Exact execution date unconfirmed.— Gap; archival photograph, photographer unconfirmed.
Who Wore Khakis
- Brand:
- Gap
Timeless principle
Find the existing cultural life of an ordinary object, then make the connection with restraint.
The idea
Give an everyday garment cultural history by showing who already wore it.
Why it works
The photographs already contain lives worth looking at. A director sits in his chair, a musician leans over a table, and an athlete pauses with a record case. The small line about khakis redirects our attention to something these people share. Gap’s restrained signature then connects that ordinary garment with an appealing cultural history. The clothes in the original photographs were not necessarily Gap’s; the campaign makes an association rather than a product demonstration. Keeping the old pictures intact lets their different settings and personalities do most of the work.
Tags
- Classic Print
- Portraiture
- Fashion
- Cultural History
Gallery
Miles Davis — Who Wore Khakis. Exact execution date unconfirmed. Muhammad Ali — “wears khakis” execution. Exact execution date unconfirmed.
