Lee has been a staple American brand for nearly 100 years. The Kansas-born brand has carved out space for itself, not unlike Levi’s or Wrangler, in the denim space. But, like them, does more, too — in storytelling as well, it wants to prove. Its all-new collaboration with designer Ouigi Theodore’s NYC brand, The Brooklyn Circus is a step in the right direction, especially since Theodore is such a compelling frontman.
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“Power to the people,” he says. “The Brooklyn Circus finds inspiration in the pages of history, so collaborating with a heritage brand like Lee to highlight the history of the Black working west made perfect sense.”
The collection takes inspiration from America’s West, where much of modern American fashion stems from — like jeans, which were invented in the American South but popularized out West. Theodore and Lee designers Sedgwick Cole Jr. (Men’s) and Nicola Mielke (Women’s) conjure Black cowboys and the broader Black working class, creating pieces that fuse fashion’s past and present.
“Lee can tap into different cultures because we were there in real time,” Cole Jr. says. “Every detail from the Japanese selvedge denim to the Melton wool fabric and exclusive patterns and pallets twist these two stories together. The final result is a unique collection that makes you say, ‘Wow, this is so new and fresh.'”
And it is, even if there’s plenty of old blended in. Theodore has a knack for mixing styles prior with those popular today. It’s exactly what he does for The Brooklyn Circus, albeit with prep clothing, not western wear. He seems right at home in this aesthetic, too, though.
“Merging the past with the modern or the unexpected is what makes design interesting, which is what this capsule achieves,” Mielke says.
