Who would have guessed that the fashion collector’s dream would be in stamp collecting?
An interesting marketing move was announced this week on the J. W. Anderson website, “the current SS16 Campaign is based on a postage stamp positioned in white space to scale. It has now been developed into a stamp with actual postage value for collectors to purchase.” J.W. Anderson is famous for these interesting marketing tactics, with past projects involving anything from working with controversial LBGT photographers, to streaming entire Men’s runway shows on Grindr.
The SS16 Stamp Campaign
In an industry where competition is intense, there is great push towards innovation in areas such as campaign photography and marketing. J. W. Anderson’s latest innovative move is to break into the world of stamp design. It is an interesting move, and one that will surely work. The benefit being the novelty of owning a small part of the campaign that is affordable, easily sourced and practical in its legitimate ability to be used.
We think the campaign that birthed the stamp design was beautifully minimal and unique, an assessment that is surely shared. It goes without saying that avid fashion collectors will be jumping at the opportunity to collect the limited edition stamp print.
The stamp format also offers the brand the opportunity of selling the campaign as a beautiful, small book of framed photos, as the stamps come in a set of 10 in a branded presentation folder.
Anderson’s History Of Creative Projects
J.W. Anderson has shown time and time again that they are artistically driven, with the release of the SS16 campaign itself earlier this year making waves due to its minimalism.
The photographer connected to the campaign, Jamie Hawkworth, is known for his unique photography campaigns. This ‘stamp’ campaign was lauded for its use of negative space and the stamp format. Hawkworth is not specifically a fashion photographer and often his photography focuses on the documentation of youth, this year sees his first solo show in New York.
This is not the most innovative move of J.W. Anderson’s genius marketing team, even this year. The AW16 men’s runway show was steeped in controversy that undeniably benefited the brand, enhancing notoriety and audience significantly. The brand chose to pioneer a streaming platform greeted with widespread surprise, Grindr.
Speaking on the decision to stream the mens runway show on the well known gay social networking app, Anderson was open about his aims “for me it was how could we reach 196 countries in one moment.”
“It’s quite amazing to be able to access seven million people at once… I feel like it’s very important that brands explore media, it’s the only way forward, I don’t see any differentiation between Grindr, Tinder and Instagram.”
This stamp campaign is connected to a tradition of Anderson’s, to be very photography-focused in his approach, often with collectibles such as this stamp a part of the marketing package. When Anderson partnered up with controversial but highly respected photographer Ian David Baker, the pair released a much sought after zine of sleek images. The draw of these collectible objects is understandable for both the fans and the marketing team, with the fans receiving a physical object direct from the brand itself and the brand being able to supply simple, affordable advertising to a demand.
If this announcement has awakened your desire for a piece of Anderson’s growing collectible collection, the designer has recently paired again up with Ian David Baker. Anderson curated a book of Baker’s photography that showcases British life and culture.
The book is available on the brand’s website, where you can also invest in a own copy of the soon to be collector’s dream stamp.
