THE CLIENT Fashion designer Todd Magill, having established a considerable reputation and following for the boutique label, Wyeth, was starting his own line to premiere with a Fall/Winter 2008 collection. Magill’s philosophy for Graydn was “to create clothing that can stand the test of time. To create unique styles with thoughtful detailing and finishing.”
THE PROJECT BRIEF Magill and his creative director Whitney Delgado approached Helicopter to collaborate with them on establishing a strong, unique identity for Graydn. The goal was to market the line for sale at high-end boutiques and department stores, so the identity needed to speak to a traditional sense of luxury and refinement as well as to feel original, unique and approachable.
The Helicopter partners visited Magill at his Los Angeles studio to see the colors, textures and cut he was working with for his first collection. In discussions with Magill and Delgado, we began to piece together a narrative around a particularly “L.A.” type of woman – someone who would be healthy, smart, cultured, athletic and spiritual – a refined European sensibility reinterpreted with a sensual Californian bent. Magill wanted Graydn’s identity to also have a connection to Los Angeles, which we saw in the art deco architecture historic to that city.
THE GRAYDN IDENTITY Consisting of a mark, pattern, and color system that can work together and/or independently, the identity system for Graydn invokes a feeling of both tradition and newness. As an interconnected set of components, the identity can be modified seasonally for each collection and to suit the needs of a particular consumer.
The Graydn letterform, shape and pattern are rooted in an art deco vocabulary. The color palette plays off of the name, and its refined elegance embraces a range of warm and cool grays that we used throughout to create a more organic-feeling system and to define categories within a collection. For the hang tags, labels, look book and stationery system, the play of texture – an essential important factor in Magill’s designs – was realized as foils, engraving, linen finishes and the juxtaposition of matte and gloss.
THE GRAYDN LAUNCH For the initial collection launch in January 2007, Graydn had a complete identity and set of collateral including the look book, stationery and website (the latter developed by our colleagues at Knowawall). For the launch party, Helicopter designed the invitation: a two-sided poster that also acted as an accompaniment with a gift to editors, as well as a bellyband for the Fall/Winter 2008 collection look book.
