There’s a peculiar poetry to being inside and watching the rain beat down on the world outside.
When we started working on this collection in March, it was hard to avoid the parallel between the pandemic and the succession of crises the world has gone through since, giving us a level of perspective on our work in fashion.
For this season and reason, we wanted to reference Spring 2020: something familiar and comfortable, the sense of innocence, naievety – an impression of sheltering.
Consider this sartorial comfort food. The codes we have been developing season after season – the play on proportions, a lightly feminine take on menswear, tailoring with a sense of irony, traditional handcraft – are here reviewed through the lens of childhood.
More than ever, the Ernest W. Baker playbook is about just doing the work season after season with authenticity as our guiding principle and letting people come to it. If they like and appreciate it and want to be a part of it… young, old, man, woman, why does it matter?
To that end, our fashion film remains essential to our storytelling, allowing us to invite you into our world in a way that can’t be shared through still images, words and even clothes alone. A way to express what we want to show, right in the moment of these feelings.
Shot with Ukrainian director and photographer Vladimir Kaminetsky, it captures how each step forward for the brand is given this sense of perspective.
Everything that we have referenced over time has made us who we are. They are here, blended within us as we build our future as a brand, in the same way that memories form a person. We adapt to the times with our designs but at the core, what we do is always original and truthful to who we are.
And since fashion isn’t about being a crazy artist in your own little space or faraway studio, we returned to Paris with a physical showroom and installation. An intimate format still, but nothing compares to physically seeing a reaction.
To see that we’re incorporating into peoples lives in a way, and in return, that they are coming into ours, an essential part of our creative process.
At the end of the day, we are just doing fashion: it should be enjoyable, refreshing and fun. Something to be worn. Something to be shared. We said our piece, now it’s time for your take on it.
About the Brand Ernest W. Baker
Established in 2017 by designers Reid Baker and Ines Amorim, of the United States and Portugal. Reid was born in Detroit and grew up in rural Park City, Utah, while Ines was born and raised in Viana Do Castelo, Portugal. The designers heritage plays an important role in developing their collections as they blend their cultural influences between European elegance and an American rawness.
Ernest W. Baker, Reid’s Grandfather, and an early Detroit ad man, serves as a muse for the brand’s identity. With a sense of nostalgia, an intention is made to reinterpret classic garments that feel as if they were taken from Ernest’s closet.
With a precise consideration for garment construction, sourcing high quality materials, and combining an in-depth knowledge of the tailoring process, the designers propose collections composed of timeless garments with a contemporary vision.
After releasing only their second collection, the label was shortlisted for the 2018 edition LVMH prize. Ernest W. Baker’s international stockists include 10 Corso Como, Antonioli, SSENSE and United Arrows.
All images courtesy of Ernest W. baker
PR Agency PR Consulting Paris