When it comes to retailers, there is probably no company that knows their customers better then, mail-order pioneer, LL Bean, of Freeport Maine.
LL Bean's Summer 2012 CatalogI grew up in a rural and somewhat remote part of Pennsylvania (Bradford-home of the
Zippo Lighter). As a teenager, "in-fashion" clothing was often a problem. My mother claimed that western Pennsylvania, fashionably speaking, was about six years behind either of the coasts.
During early college days, The
Preppy Handbook was published and became our reference book as to what was being worn by teenagers, in the land beyond the Allegheny Mountains. While most people in New England accepted the publication as a tongue-in-cheek satire of the region's affinity with Bean field jackets and button-down oxford shirts, the handbook became our fashion bible. When preppie fashions were required, we needed to look no further than the LL Bean catalog.
Now celebrating their 100th year, LL Bean has embarked on a retro-creative-endeavor that caught my eye. The creative team at Bean, has returned to their rich archives of former catalog covers–some dating back to the early 1930s.
Team Bean, and New York photographer,
Randall Ford, have been replicating a select few of the classic Rockwell-esque, illustrated covers, by creating near duplicate images–created with highly styled photography and state-of-the-art retouching techniques.
For those interested, frame-able reproductions of both the original illustrations and the new photographic representations of the original illustrations, are available for a mere $99 each.
Gimmick?
I'm not sure. At first, I couldn't help but wonder why the company isn't saving themselves a lot of trouble and just re-running the original classics–in their original painterly form.
from the inside front cover.However, from a BUZZ perspective, the creative endeavor caught my eye and drove me to the LL Bean site. Will people plunk down $100 for a poster? Only time will tell. Perhaps instead, the Bean website visit will encourage them to upgrade their trail mocs, or spring for a new plaid shirt.
Moving ahead another 100 years, it will be interesting to see what Bean will do in the next reiterations of the cover theme. Bets are in favor of the fact that, many of their classic apparel offerings will still be in style.
To explore this story further, you should visit the
LL Bean site. You will enjoy the short videos that further explain both the purpose and the process.
Side note:
I should also mention that after living in the New England area for nearly 30 years, my wardrobe of LL Bean apparel has only increased since my fashion-deprived youth. —Doug.
Tuesday, April 3, 2012 at 2:34PM 
Was sorry to hear that Earl recently passed away at a young 88. He wil be sadly missed, especially during our Wednesday, Banjo Hour. – Doug.
