Fred Perry x Gorillaz: a very real collaboration
Clothes

12 June 2021

Fred Perry x Gorillaz: a very real collaboration

Fred Perry x Gorillaz: a very real collaboration



London, 2021. A demonic sinkhole is opening up underneath Kong Studios, where the Gorillaz rehearse, and they need to rush out. Until the city council comes to fix the problem, the band has to hit the road and can only carry a few essentials with them. What do 2D, Murdoc, Russell and Noodles choose to take? Their instruments, recording equipment and the latest Fred Perry collection they've been working on.


This is how the brand's new collaboration with virtual band Gorillaz is presented. After Justin Bieber with Crocs and Dua Lipa with Puma, it's the Gorillaz's turn to team up with a clothing brand and create a special collection. Sharing an independent spirit and freedom of thought makes the combination between the group and Fred Perry perfect.


With a clear need to do things differently, the Gorillaz stamp has come at two distinct times. In the first phase, the band was the face of the brand's classic polos. The M3 model, considered the original, and the M12 model, with double stripe, were the chosen ones. Vocalist 2D wears a white M3 polo with his name embroidered under the brand's logo. Bassist Murdoc Niccals wears a tartan green M12. Meanwhile guitarist Noodles wears a light blue M12 polo and drummer Russel Hobs a red M12.


Ninety years before the English band was created, Fred Perry was born, a British boy of humble origins who would go on to become the number one tennis player. But it wasn't just on the court that he was the talk of the town. Regarded as the best-dressed player of his time, Fred Perry entered the business world at the age of 32. He began by inventing the first sweatbands with Tibby Wegner, an Austrian football player. In order to produce clothing for tennis players, in 1952 he founded Fred Perry Sportswears with Wegner and created his first polo shirt.


In the late 1950s, the simple, clean cut of the pattern made the Fred Perry shirt a staple for many youth movements, from punk to britpop -a movement that emphasised British culture. It was with Mod, a London subculture, that the brand started producing the polo in different colours. From then on, Fred Perry became associated with English street culture, as well as with different musical styles.This is where the Gorillaz come in, continuing the brand's legacy of collaborations with musicians, after other artists such as Amy Winehouse, Peter Blake and the No Doubt.







In the second phase of the collaboration, the Gorillaz presented on May 20 their clothing and accessories collection. A reinterpretation of classic designs, a crane print and phrases alluding to the band are the most characteristic features of the partnership. The phrase "Reject False Icons" can be found on the back of jumpers and jackets and makes direct reference to the biographical documentary released in 2019.


Screened in specific cinemas around the world for a short period of time, the film told how the characters created in 1998 by musician Damon Albarn and artist Jamie Hewlett met. Murdoc Niccals met Stuart Pot, also known as 2D, when he accidentally hit him in the head, putting him into cerebral palsy. As a consequence, Murdoc had to do community work and look after 2D for a few hours a week. One Saturday, during one of those hours, Murdoc and 2D were in a car accident, which caused 2D to wake up from his vegetative state. Realising that 2D had a knack for music, Murdoc took him to the mysterious Kong Studios, a building with over 50 rooms, a recording studio, a cinema, several bathrooms and some secret doors.


The next to be recruited was Russell Hobbs, an American who saw all his friends die in a gang fight in Brooklyn. The last to arrive was Noodles, the guitarist. One day a box arrived from Japan delivered by Fedex and inside it came a little Japanese girl, who couldn't remember anything and could only say the word noodles. And that's how the Gorillaz were formed. Now, 20 years after their first album and making it big in a pre-digital world, the band have seven albums to their name, having released Song Machine in 2020.


The alternative rock group, with influences of britpop, dub and electronica, feels the collection with Fred Perry simply made sense. Russell Hobs even went so far as to say that the Gorillaz and Fred Perry matched like "rhythm matches music. We love turning dreams into reality and hope you guys like it too. Peace!"





Fred Perry


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