Good morning, Thursday. It's a lovely day here in the city and I'm getting on the phone in a few hours to hear about a brilliant travel opportunity for work and I can't WAIT. More on that soon- fingers crossed it transpires.
So it's Thursday and I've got throwbacks on my mind. I'm so not a nostalgic person in any way but I do love pop culture so it's fun to look back at moments in time, particularly one's youth, and smile at what we all wore back in the day. As a quintessential child of the 80s, one label stands out for me beyond all others as a vestige of that time- and that's Esprit, or Esprit de Corps. Founded by Doug and Suzie Tompkins in San Francisco (during the heyday of Levi's and the Gap incidentally), the brand ceased to exist in the US about five years ago but what an impact they had. Suzie Tompkins is notable for her female entrepreneurship, and if you look back at some of the workish looks from the brand, you definitely see a relaxed, California ease that was decidedly counter to the Working Girl shoulder pad brigade of that time. Esprit was all light, love, and color. Most of their ads were photographed by Olivier Toscani, who also shot those iconic Benetton ads of that same era. A Wikipedia search had me remembering he introduction of the “Real People Campaign”, which was shot by Toscani, "using architects and designers for its projects, starting with Italian Ettore Sottsass, who developed the first Esprit Europe Headquarters in Düsseldorf. He established the overall concept of the stores in the style of the Memphis design movement.Architects and designers included Antonio Citterio and Norman Foster". Pretty bold and ahead of their time I would say- and very cool from a couple that started their business from a VW Bus.
So as a kiddlywink in Philadelphia, I was straight up obsessed with Esprit. It's true my look was a bit more Japanese/dark at the time, but there was this cool California aesthetic of the 80s (Fast Times/surf culture/Valley Girl/Camp Beverly Hills) that was hard to ignore, and it was a nice break from some of the darker looks I was always rocking. I will never forget going to sleepaway camp and my mom taking me on quite the shopping trip- buying me a good amount of Esprit sweatshirts, shorts, and all kinds of other gear. I laid all of those outfits out on my bed, called by best friends over, and worshipped those clothes like they were gold. And to be honest, they kind of were.
Looking back at these ads made me smile today. And now I will proceed to search for vintage Esprit online and see if I can grab a cool piece or two- I love the knee length skirted looks with blazers and the more grown up layered looks that epitomized the brand a little later in its life. Such a great moment in fashion, and moreover, my youth. What a great vibe. They're still producing in Europe and have loads of licensing deals there, but maybe it's time for a US comeback hmm hmm?
Cause that's what's up this Throwback Thursday in the 718. Yours, in joie de vivre, and Esprit de Corps. I have some shopping to do. XO