Fred Perry’s latest Art Comes First collaboration pays homage to photographer Dave Hendley and his evocative images of Jamaican ‘rude boy’ culture. Hendley worked at the reggae label Trojan Records as an A&R man, lectured at Central Saint Martians and wrote for Blues and Soul magazine – where he helped establish reggae as a credible music genera in the UK. Sam Lambert and Shaka Maidoh of Art Comes First reinterpret key Fred Perry archive styles through the rude boy lens, inspired by pictures taken by Hendley in Jamaica and the UK in the late 1970s.
Many of the Fred Perry archive pieces didn’t feel like clothing to us, they felt more like characters from Mr Hendley’s pictures, and that inspired us for days. We’re very proud just to be able to continue telling that same story you see documented in those pictures through clothing. – Sam Lambert & Shaka Maidoh
The SS20 Fred Perry x Art Comes First collection will be available in select Fred Perry stores and fredperry.com from Thursday July 23.
