Skid Row Denim Academy
Our friends at Skid Row Housing Trust, a nonprofit organization committed to ending chronic homelessness through permanent supportive housing, are always creating new solutions to raise awareness and much needed funding. They decided on a concept for a new social enterprise, Skid Row Denim Academy, a line of couture denim designed and handmade in Downtown LA. The Academy would provide job training and mentorships to formerly homeless residents of Skid Row Housing Trust, while engaging and activating the new wave of younger creatives moving into all areas of Downtown.
We created an identity system and brand language that would speak to the ideas and mission of The Trust, while evoking the tone of a fashion brand that’s serious about its designs and products. This system included copywriting that spoke of the mission as well as visuals that harkened back to LA’s golden years of fashion and the unfortunate birth of Skid Row. This early century, revolutionary appeal needed to be influenced by a very contemporary look that matched the sensibility of Downtown LA today. Drawing upon Agit Prop aesthetics and art deco design, we updated the system to a proprietary identity that speaks of both the mission and the product across store design, clothing labels, website, and even the events and social media of The Academy.
Client: Skid Row Housing Trust
Creative Direction: Mike Payne
Photography: Mike Payne, Christian Thomas