Bringing Modern to Miami

© Ben Sherman

Miami is a modern city. Our colors, our architecture, our aesthetic, all scream mod, mod, mod. So it would make sense that the folks from Ben Sherman have come to town in order to shoot the ad campaign for their Spring 2012 collection, Brighton to Tokyo.

Ben Sherman is, after all, as mod as they come. Their shirts were the sartorial choice for the original Mods, the British youth subculture known for their bleeding-edge fashion sense and predilection for Vespas. Plus, “I feel like everyone’s coming to Miami now,” says Mark Maidment, creative director for Ben Sherman. “It’s just so warm and sunny. So inviting.”

And that's exactly what they were looking for in a location – warmth. Not cliches. "We want to avoid all those Miami cliches – palm trees and art deco – what we're really looking for is warmth." 

© Ben ShermanHe explains: “We wanted this modernist guy, this interesting Englishman, we wanted him to travel. Brighton’s where the brand originated, Tokyo is a great source of inspiration, and we wanted to be able to do sort of slightly Japanese-inspired looks. So we have this journey, this very global journey. The looks go from being very wintered and layered to more Spring-like. And someone could say, why Miami? But it’s a very global journey and Miami’s a very global city.”

The looks in the collection do look very Miami. And quite a departure from the normally buttoned-up British fashion house known for their shirts, and more recently, their richly detailed layers. In this collection, they’ve experimented with a subtle floral print, and even have brought a few pastels into the mix. The models in their 2012 lookbook are dressed down, but always polished.

For Maidment, it’s all about having the look, but being comfortable. “That’s what I think mod has become. You want to look good, but you don’t want to suffer for it.”

That kind of effortless, deliberate fashion has Miami all over it. And Miami will be all over the 2012 ad campaign, not in the form of its cliches, but in the form of its people, its warmth, and its light.

For the Fall 2011 campaign, Englishmen in New York, the folks at Ben Sherman found several English expats whose looks they liked, and created a campaign based around the men themselves – their stories, their style. It looks completely fresh and completely unexpected. They're looking to do something similar here.

"I’m so intrigued by what we’re going to do in Miami," Maidment says. "We’re looking at different kinds of people...three very interesting-looking people. It will be fun to see how it works out – we don’t know who they are yet."

As for whether women will get the Ben Sherman treatment, the answer is yes. But not yet. "There are still more things that I want to do to evolve the brand," Maidment says of the menswear house, before they expand it to include women. But, "I can already see what a women's line would look like; looking at the Spring collection, I can already see it."

In the meantime, women will have to continue to, as Maidment says they do in the UK, selectively buy the brand's colorful new chinos, and classic button-downs, for a look that is admittedly androgynous, but 100% chic.

Men and women alike will have to wait until January to get their hands on the Spring 2012 line. The ad campaign for which will be shot in Miami in the upcoming weeks. And if you're wondering, no, there's not a Ben Sherman here. A slight Maidment hopes to one day rectify. In the mean time, you can shop the British export at BenShermanUSA.com.

Selections from Brighton to Tokyo