Pharrell recently dropped his highly anticipated “Pink Beach” capsule collection with adidas Originals at an immersive pop-up beach dreamland installed in West Hollywood studio The Lot. Guests including DJ Khaled, Big Sean, A$AP Rocky, Jhené Aiko, and Tyler, the Creator joined Skateboard P for the VIP party. But the Hollywood event wasn’t the only surreal beach rave planned for the high-energy capsule. A few months earlier, video artist (and fellow Adidas favorite) Rob Kassabian flew to a secret island off the coast of Florida to create Pharrell’s trippy campaign video. Kassabian’s private party included only a colorful squad of statuesque models, an endless horizon, an upbeat soundtrack, and of course an actual candy pink beach.
i-D caught up with Kassabian back in New York to talk about bringing Pharrell’s vision to life, bringing the party back to the hotel, and why making videos is still so much fun.
Where did you shoot the video? Was it on a real pink beach?
We actually shot it down in Florida. It was on the west coast, near Marco Island, on a small barrier island. There are lots of uninhabited islands around there. So we shot one day on one of those islands, then it rained our second day, so we ended up having to come back and set up a studio in the hotel. But it worked out really well. Some of my favorite scenes are things we just shot with the models dancing up against the wall at the hotel.
Pharrell mentioned “island culture” as his jump-off point for this capsule. Was it intentional to shoot in a location that was quite unspecific?
Yeah, we were just going for a generic beach. We were really looking for the colors and a nice sky. We didn’t want a beach like Hawaii, with the waves — just something cool and tropical, with nice clouds and a horizon line. Also, the clothes are really brightly colored and have a lot going on. The patterns are really striking and vibrant. So I think shooting on a background that was more minimal kept the focus on the clothes and showed them off to greater effect.
What was it like working with Pharrell? Do you get much creative input working with someone who has so much video experience of their own?
Most of it was planned out before we even got down there. So he was involved before and after the shoot — I didn’t actually get to work with him down in Florida. But he was completely involved in the process, and of course he was involved in picking the music for it afterwards!
You and Pharrell have both worked on a few separate adidas projects before. Are there any other brands you particularly love collaborating with?
This is my third adidas project — I’ve had a really good time working with them. I did another Y-3 project last year, and another with the Originals brand. I just finished a project for Coach. I like to work with a bunch of different directors to keep things interesting.
Why do you think film is still such an impactful way to tell a story about clothing?
I think it’s because you can tell a story with video. Stills are all about the image, and that can be very specific. With film you have more ways to tell a story, even if it’s just an idea. It doesn’t have to be anything specific — it can just be a vibe. Pink Beach is sort of the perfect example of that.
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Text Hannah Ongley