THE ICONIC harnesses fashion’s power to elevate, uplift and liberate in new campaign via Exit Films
One of Australia and New Zealand’s leading online fashion and sport retailer, THE ICONIC, has today announced the launch of a new campaign celebrating togetherness and self-expression, directed by Stefan Hunt of Exit Films.
The campaign takes THE ICONIC’s annual summer runway show, traditionally a physical event, and transforms it into a short film designed to entertain and inspire self-expression anywhere, and everywhere.
Known for producing the world’s most body-positive, inclusive, boundary-pushing runway shows, THE ICONIC’s first virtual runway, titled Runway Everywhere, harnesses fashion’s power to elevate, uplift and liberate, reminding consumers that every moment in life can be their own fashion runway.
Runway Everywhere marks another milestone evolution of THE ICONIC’s annual runway event, which since 2017 has challenged traditional “beach body, blonde hair, blue eyed” stereotypes by presenting a more inclusive representation of summer down under. From celebrating everyBody in 2018, to everyOne in 2019, THE ICONIC’s Summer Show 2020 embraces the idea that fashion, and the feeling our favourite clothing can evoke, can be celebrated everyWhere.
Runway Everywhere guest stars Matt Ford and Jack Steele of The Inspired Unemployed – two tradies from the NSW South Coast turned social media comedy megastars who skyrocketed to fame after the world turned to TikTok and Instagram to keep sane and entertained during lockdown. Matt and Jack are joined by an all star cast of leading Australian and New Zealand models including Georgia Fowler, Charlee Fraser, Samantha Harris, Australian athletes Ellie Cole and Rheed McCraken, dancer Thuba Ndibali, model Weah Bangura and former rugby league footballer Nick Youngquest.
Says Alexander Meyer, chief marketing officer for THE ICONIC: “After a challenging year for so many, we really wanted to begin summer with a runway show that was lighthearted and hopeful for the future, and was a celebration of togetherness and self-expression – which is why this year’s Show is our most joyous yet. The inspiration behind Runway Everywhere were the wonderful Aussies and Kiwis who continued to dress up this year – even when they had nowhere to go. Watching people glam up for ‘bin night’ and adopt ‘couch couture’ brought us all smiles during a disrupted winter; these moments spoke to the power of fashion as a tool of self-expression and our collective, resilient spirit this year.
“As a progressive retailer, we’ve again continued our celebration of diversity, inclusion, body-positivity and all that makes us human, taking great efforts to secure a diverse line-up of talent of different ages, shapes, sizes and backgrounds for this year’s show. People are at the heart of everything we do at THE ICONIC, and we are forever striving to ensure our customers feel valued, heard and represented.”
THE ICONIC’s Summer Show 2020: Runway Everywhere can be viewed here, with all trends and looks available to shop now. Runway Everywhere will run across social media. The campaign is also supported by trade and consumer PR, Influencer and an Instagram-led UGC campaign.
Client: THE ICONIC
Chief Marketing Officer: Alexander Meyer
Head of Creative: Fiona Murchison
Men’s Fashion: Dani Soglimbene
Women’s Fashion: Nicole Adolphe
Producer: Lisa Ballard
Talent: Nicolas Alexander
PR & Communications: Liz Anderson and Amreeta Bhatti
Brand: Krystle Malone
Partnerships: Verity Brewer
Production Company: Exit Films
Director: Stefan Hunt
Director of Photographer: Campbell Brown
Producer: Linzee Harris
Location, Logistics & Production Management: Team Event
PR Agency and Creative Consultation: Adhesive
Creative Consultation: Thinkerbell
Post House: ARC Edit
Editor: Aika Miyake
31 Comments
Is this a joke?
“A runway should reflect our world and represent all of us”. Cue young, skinny, attractive, white models. Iconic double standard.
Yes the two main dudes are comedians aka The Inspired Unemployed.
Did you actually watch the ad?
No prizes for guessing who the agency behind it is
Could’ve been better if it didn’t look like the first assembly. Hire an editor next time
I guess ‘funny’ is super subjective. Some might smile at this. Or cringe. Or both.
“fashion’s power to elevate, uplift and liberate”
Oh, please!
I see you there, hiding in the credits Thinkerbell!
Genuinely love this spot! Utilises the talent of the Uninspired Unemployed, catchy tune, and great styling – it is after all about the fashion. Definitely speaks to their core audience – which I am a part of, but I am assuming the detractors commenting above aren’t? Agree – they could’ve done more in the diversity and inclusivity area.
PS. I don’t work at The Iconic.
Fun, well shot, doesn’t take itself too seriously. On par with the Burberry spot. Well done local people.
‘On par with the Burberry spot’ hahahahahahaha!
For once, I don’t object to the use of the word “Iconic”
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Really? My last comment was ‘Excellent’ under sloways.
You must be a real Tinkerbell to be offended so easily!
While I don’t think this is terrible, I do need to know who is the absolute clown that thinks this is “on par with the Burberry spot.” You are having a laugh, right? That Burberry spot is a world-class work of filmic craft. This is a selling linen shorts to punters in Bondi.
Why is Australia so hung up on diversity and ‘being diverse’.
It’s so try hard and tick boxy.
And besides, there’s plenty people in this ad that I assume (don’t assume race ya’ll) aren’t caucasian – one girl is definitively black, another looks to be of Afro/Caribbean origin, the guy with long hair looks to be south east asian/pacific islander, another could be south east asian or maybe Arabic – no doubt with much more mixed in too.
Advertising should both reflect reality AND promote diversity – not do one in-spite of the other
I LOVE THIS. Made me smile and I think Runway Everywhere is perfect. And it is not tokenistic. I am not from the target audience – but fark – it is fun! And a cracker of a track. Nice work Stefan
On par with Burberry?!
I like this spot, it’s fun, but it’s not even close to Burberry.
What a wank.
Retro (or do they call it Throwback these days?) techno house created by two-gens-later kids – Oooh how retro – with the obligatory “gotta-have-a-token-black-girl-with-afro-variations”, just like every other ad. And before anyone arcs up, I AM a black girl with an afro. I was there when Technotronic hit the Hordern in 1990, off my chops, along with all the dance-party goers. Sweatbox, RAT, nothing compares.
Uninspired, but then, that is the audience, isn’t it?
Corrected myself, a Blackbox tune it was (saw them too)… one too many disco biscuits. And yeah, if we’re gonna be “inclusive”, they’re all still fucking hipsters, where are the yobs, oldies and disabled?
No Redheads?
On par with the Burberry spot?
Yeah right.
Where’s the oldies? The visibly differently-abled? Not many beer bellies either. Tsk.
Loved it. Thought it was fun, engaging, matched the audience. Love the Inspired Unemployed. Saw them eating sushi in Kiama once and went right in and bought some sushi. True influencers.
Pretty sure its farshion
grinned inanely right the way through!
Normal people love this shit.
I think The Unemployed guys are terribly unfunny, but not many of my peers would agree.
This is an ad for real people and it will sell clothes for The Iconic.
Therefore, this ad is good.
Love it! Nice job
Did it really need the un-inspirational out of work guys? I don’t think they added anything, plus they seem to be way over used. Are they all we have in Australia right now?
Because it ain’t funny… it definitely ain’t high end fashion and definitely ain’t conceptual interesting. It’s nowhere.
The idea of runway anywhere is obvious but could have been funny. Poor writing, poor direction or both.
The director overcooked it. The idea is make the world your runway. Not make it a fashion ad. The Cinematography and casting destroyed any chance of the humour coming to light. The Inspired Unemployed’s direction style would have been much stronger. They should have got them to direct it… low-fi. What a shame.