Luxury fashion label Pokit, approached me with the task of creating a video that could launch their new website. After spending 20 years establishing their design-led brand, founders Claire Pringle and Bayode Oduwole wanted to convey their sensibility towards creating a tailor made suits. A purposeful process without the gimmicks of other brands. Passionate about the craftsmanship of traditional tailoring combined with their own unique creative touch, they needed a film that could introduce their “deconstructed bespoke suits”
A State of Mind
Whilst interviewing Bayode in their studio in Margate, it soon became apparent that Pokit was neither a place, nor an object. It was a state. A state of mind, to be precise.
The dialogue between customer and designer is where the magic was. It’s here that those decisions were made, that moulds one’s persona into a physical manifestation. Or as Bayode puts it, “Clark Gable looked good in a suit because he was confident in what he was wearing”. So in essence, Pokit doesn’t sells suits to people. It sells confidence back to them.
For this reason, including the audio from our preliminary interview became essential to giving the film shape, as it was in fact the film's first fitting.
Portrait of Bayode Oduwole in kitchen
Designers. Not Tailors.
It was clear from the beginning that showing the audience the process of making a suit was a dated concept i.e no imagery of an old man dressed in a tweed waistcoat on sewing a button. Instead we wanted to emphasis on the design aspect of it, and what a better symbol of this than the sketchbook. Showcasing Bayode’s illustration skills became a visual metaphor for the bespoke handmade touch put into tailoring, all the while still keeping the allure of the process intact.
Video and Photography ©Kashmirwala 2018