Life Tastes Good

“It’s pretty surreal to see my name written underneath such an iconic logo” – Daniel w. Fletcher on his Coca-Cola collaboration
Fashion | 8 December 2021

Daniel w. Fletcher has joined forces with Coca-Cola for a dynamic capsule collection.

In keeping with the classic flourishes that have come to define Fletcher’s striking menswear, the collaboration starts with a fifty-year trip back into the Coca-Cola archives, arriving at a time fizzing with hope and optimism. Landing on an iconic campaign from the early seventies, which unites a group of young people from across the globe on a dreamy Italian hillside to belt out lyrics from I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing, Fletcher found a shared passion, resonating with the ad’s strong sense of togetherness and inclusivity. 

Providing the perfect jumping-off point for Fletcher’s collaboration with the brand, the designer starts by lifting these hazy campaign stills off the screen and reworking them in tile prints across silk shirts and shorts. He then looks to Coca Cola’s iconic colour palette, synonymous with birthday parties and fizzy pick-me-ups, marrying these bold hues with svelte tailoring across hats, shirts, co-branded jerseys and one rather fetching two-piece denim moment.

Rounding the collection off with a patchwork blanket created from production waste scraps from the capsule, Fletcher’s capsule offers warmth, humour and a feel-good dose of vintage charmin the words of Coca-Cola: Life Tastes Good. Talking us through the collaboration, Fletcher reflects on his own memories of the drinks brand and reveals his favourite flavour.

GALLERY

On how the collaboration came about…
“This Coca-Cola capsule came to be back in 2019 but with everything that’s happened in the past two years I’m really excited to finally see it coming out! This year is the 50th anniversary of their Hilltop advert so we decided that this would be the starting point for the collaboration.”

On what  Coca-Cola means to him…
“It makes me think of shoot days, we always have it on set. If you’re going to be doing a twelve hour day, a can of Coke really helps get you through. It’s pretty surreal to see my name written underneath such an iconic logo, it’s one I feel like I’ve known my whole life and is recognisable all over the world so to see them together is quite mad.”

On how Coca-Cola relates to Daniel W. Fletcher…
“It was the Hiltop campaign from 1971 that really stood out to me and highlighted the shared values between our brands. It features young people from all over the world congregating on the top of a hill in Italy and singing, I’d like to teach the world to sing. The original Hilltop advert sent a message of global unity, it was extremely powerful at the time and still feels just as prevalent today as it was when it was first released. Togetherness, inclusivity and unity are at the heart of my brand and with the separation we have gone through in the last couple of years it felt like an important message to send.”

On selecting the imagery…
“I took stills from the Hilltop campaign because I loved the 70s feelings and the soft colours, it’s an era I often reference and the flared jeans and billowing shirts in the advert also provided inspiration for the silhouettes.”

On choosing actor Harrison Osterfield as the face of the campaign…
“I met Harrison earlier this year at a party and we instantly got along, we’ve hung out a couple of times since so he was a natural choice, it’s always fun to work with your friends.”

And Daniel’s favourite flavour of Coke…
“I feel like I should probably say original Coca-Cola given the collaboration but it is actually Diet Coke… I do have a really iconic friend who likes a mix of cherry and vanilla though which she has to go to Five Guys to make herself!”

DANIEL w. FLETCHER x Coca-Cola will be available to shop worldwide through DANIELWFLETCHER.COM from 9th December 2021, as well as in-store at Harrods London and Lane Crawford in Shanghai and Hong Kong.


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