I Hated This, Now I Kind of Like it: Libertine's S/S 2010 Video

I watched this video from the newly reconfigured Libertine Friday night. With the sound off, for some reason. And I hated it. It looked to me like one of those hipster self-loving things where they tell the beautiful people to look all model-ly and do their dancing and jumping around and laughing thing which I usually find super annoying.

And I didn't want to think that, I love Libertine. Look - I said so here. I wondered if recent events were responsible. Cindy Greene left Johnson Hartig to continue the label on his own and he made the decision to return to their vintage roots, when Libertine was about reworking unwanted clothes into something 'covetable'.

But then I watched the film again, for some reason. With the sound on. And suddenly I came around, and I actually enjoyed it. It endeared itself to me. Why now? I wondered. And I deduced that it was the music that made sense of it. It's this catchy riff that is played over and over by the band in the film which is fronted by Hartig himself. He's making up the appropriately monotone, cool vocals as he goes along. With its repetitiveness the music is like a non-objective painting as are the orb prints which could be likened to the op art of the 1960s. No, I'm not on drugs right now. Have I thought about this too much? Obviously.

So, Libertine's spring 2010 collection and therefore this little film called Orbs and Philosphers was inspired by a book on the history of philosophers and also from a road trip to Death Valley with the Mulleavy sisters (yes, as in Rodarte), during which they stayed in a haunted hotel and Hartig became a believer in orbs. Does that mean he saw something? Why no pictures? (One day I'll tell you about the ghost family that appeared in a photo my friends took at their house. I saw it and it was chilling. I even took it home to show my family and one of my brothers was too scared to look at it; it's something you had to see for yourself to believe.)

Anyway, they recruited some Newport Beach surf kids to wear Libertine Speedo-like briefs which I just find gross, maybe because I'm not European. Or it offends my tender sensibilities. One guy has an orb right on his...cylinder?

I think some of these people got in on after the shoot.

 

I did love the tea scene. That one saucer is quite wee for that massive cup. It's not dainty but her extended pinky makes up for that. And I do like the clothes. Probably should mention that.

 

 

 

Comments

[corine]

This was fun!

Just added you to my blog roll. I thought I had earlier but could not find you. Mistake repaired.