CAMPER MIL + NEW CREATIVE DIRECTORS

YAAAAAAASSS. So I recently had brunch with my family and we went down to Santa Monica to look around. For a long time I've been looking at these shoes online via Solestruck, desperately wishing to add them to my shoe family. It reminds me of Prada's Fall 2013 lug-sole shoe for men. (A trend I love, but have yet to see commercially adapted for the boys.) But for $190? Fool, I'm just a poor college kid, strugglin' to find some cash to just hang out with my friends, let alone on a pair of shoes. But I digress. I saw a Camper retail location at Santa Monica, went in, and tried them on. Amazing. Long story short, I basically cried when the saleslady was like, "Oh, I can give you a Family & Friends Discount, so it'd be 50% off." Omg. My mum was more excited than I was, and basically bought them for me as a gift.

As exciting as that story was, I really wanted to discuss the importance of creative directors for a brand. As I was waiting for one girl to get me the shoes in my size, another sales assistant was telling me that Camper had recently hired a new creative director, helping the brand move in a different direction for a different audience. After looking it up, Camper's first-ever creative director is Romain Kremer, who formerly worked at Thierry Mugler as head menswear designer from 2011 to 2013. When I was at the retail store, a lot of the shoes weren't so snazzy. They kinda channeled the sort of uncle that insists on being comfortable for a weekend vacation. But there were a handful of shoes that stood out from the rest, and these, I believe, are a result of Kremer.

Other great examples of creative director success include Phoebe Philo at Céline, and perhaps more controversially, John Galliano at Maison Martin Margiela, announced earlier this October. It's just really rad being able to see the influence of new and fresh people taking on the role as a creative director. These are the people responsible for changing where the brand is heading, how a product is marketed, and what image the brand is trying to put forth and sell. It's arguably one of the most important, and in my opinion, the most coveted and exciting position for anyone looking to work in the fashion industry.

Alex.