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| p johnson SS0910 |
So yesterday frockwriter posted an exclusive preview of a new ad campaign by new Australian luxury menswear label MJ Bale, which was launched in late 2009 by cashed-up Herringbone co-founder Matt Jensen. The idea for the campaign was a bunch of images of a model in the MJ Bale collection – with cartoon faces, hands and feet superimposed over the model. The cartoons were courtesy Sydney graffiti artist Jumbo. Fantastic idea. Only problem: Patrick Johnson says it's his. Who is Johnson? A London-trained Sydney tailor who has been in business for three years and who launched his first campaign this time last year: a series of images of a model in his collection, with cartoon faces, hands and feet superimposed over the originals. Here is a selection, above and below (which remain on Johnson's website). The creative collaborator in Johnson's case was Sydney artist Tristan Ceddia and Johnson reports it took the duo six months to nail the concept. The MJ Bale images were supplied to frockwriter in good faith and unfortunately we were not familiar with Johnson’s brand or campaign prior to a large volume of hostile comments from his supporters this morning. Others claim the real pioneer of the photo/cartoon/fashion mashup is yet another Australian artist, Ashley Wood, who created some earlier illustrations for Diesel's spinoff streetwear brand 55DSL. To be fair to Johnson here, it's not just the general photo/cartoon idea that was picked up by MJ Bale, but the exact look of Johnson's campaign.
