Oroton may once have been the bag your mother toted, but over the past couple of seasons, they've made leaps and bounds into reestablishing themselves as an 'it' brand. They've already teamed up with Tommy Ton and Taylor Tomasi-Hill to produce campaign imagery, and now they've brought super cool NYC illustrator (and Brisbane boy) Craig Redman on to illustrate some key pieces from their range.
Redman is the man behind the hilarious illustration blog Darcel Disappoints http://darceldisappoints.blogspot.com/. I caught his first Italian solo show during Milan Fashion Week earlier this year, and am ceaselessly impressed with the artist's ability to blend a slick aesthetic that's the pinnacle of current design standards with something that, in its relentlessly optimistic use of colour, still feels a little darker. His prints of famous fashion figures in Milan, in addition to looking very cool, were borderline menacing.
Redman's work reminds me a little of Yellow Submarine, but there's a compelling newness to it as well. This has translated comfortably into the branded collaboration, which will be used as visual merchandising in Oroton boutiques across the country.
In addition to the four posters, Oroton have also worked on an animation with Redman
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While Oroton's fashion resurgence has much to do with the considered collaborations the brand's creative director Ana Maria Escobar has instigated, I suspect there is more to it than that. For a long time fussy opulence - tassels, trims, outsized locks and monogrammed mania - was the prevailing trend in handbags, but in an austerity measured, Celine- dominated luxury climate, Oroton's very classic aesthetic is once again of the moment. With that in mind, I think I might go and raid my mother's wardrobe for a few choice vintage pieces to compliment the current collection.