Anyone who lives in a city knows that the winter months don’t just signal the arrival of Christmas lights and jolly decorations. While festivities are part of it, urban areas can often feel isolated — the long periods of darkness and inclement weather coalescing with grey expanses of concrete to form a beautiful sort of bleakness. This is where the new movie from Carhartt WIP finds its inspiration.
In contrast to the brand’s summer film, Carhartt WIP’s winter campaign is accompanied by an atmospheric, neon-lit short film set in the crevices of the city in winter, where signs of life are only visible under the yellowing hues of the street lights.
Composed of a series of vignettes, unlike the summer campaign this new film doesn’t follow any discernible plot, instead focusing on the ominous yet alluring nature of the city during those long winter nights. Wearing warm padded jackets and hooded sweatshirts from Carhartt WIP’s winter collection, the characters all appear alone — either masked by the shadows or lightly bathed in the city’s glow.
The winter campaign marks the second time that Carhartt WIP have teamed up with artists Joaquim Bayle and Sylvain Sey, who are responsible for the film and the images, and who actually met each other while they were working at Carhartt WIP’s store in Lille.
The winter campaign, Joaquim says, drew inspiration from neo-noir thrillers, particularly Dan Gilroy’s 2014 movie Nightcrawler starring Jake Gyllenhaal. They were also inspired by the urban isolation found in the paintings of Edward Hopper, as well as 00s TV shows set in cities like New York, London and Baltimore. Complementing these stylised references is fashion that is utilitarian, practical, hardy and effortlessly modern.
With winter just around the corner, this film serves as a reminder that there’s still life to be found in the bleakest of places. Watch the full film below.