Friday, February 06, 2015

Who Had The Better High Fashion Backpack Ad? Alex Olson or Eli Reed?


It is odd that two giant fashion brands decided to push their leather backpacks with with skateboarding. Alex Olson and Eli Reed both had backpack ads for high fashion brands surface today. Alex Olson skates around LA for Louis Vuitton while Eli Reed hits NYC for Coach. 


Neither backpack looks particularly practical for skateboarding but most skate bags aren't that practical anyway. You gotta have board straps first of all, and some technical straps help a lot when you are actually skating. Maybe add in a sternum strap to stabilize the bag. Waist strap is even better but most people won't use it. The Louis bag does look better, as the Coach bag is just a leather version of the classic Eastpak I had in middle school. Advantage Louis for the actual bag.

El Reed's name rarely gets thrown into the discussion of "Team Handsome" but he is more fashion forward (pants game on fleek) than most skaters and books oddball fashion-meets-skate gigs all the time.  Alex Olson is second only to Dylan Rieder in his fashion-meets-skate credentials. (Sure Ben Nordberg books more fashion gigs but is less relevant in skateboarding.) I'd guess it goes down to personal preference as to which one is more good looking. Coach wins this point for going with the less obvious choice of Eli Reed.

LA vs. New York is a classic rivalry. No where is more "street" than New York but LA is the birthplace of skateboarding. The mid-century house with the Eames chairs and sleek sofas is way cooler than the subway or any other location from Coach's NYC cut. You just get the feeling that Louis put a little more effort into their video than Coach did. Olson has several different outfits, does a voice over, and hits multiple locations that aren't just street level. Any of the decent filmers in skateboarding today could have put that Coach commercial together. Obviously Louis takes the point for production value.

The actual skating is a bit of a letdown but not a surprise from a non-skate production. Most people reading this blog could pull off what both guys did. Probably not as well or as stylish, but you could do it. Louis Vuitton's clip looks closer to a skate clip. Full body shots of the action and slow-mo at the right moments. Coach's filmer seemed to be more interested in Reed's shadow than the man himself. Filming at a skatepark is a big no no in my book so I can't in good conscience give this one to Louis so I'll call it a draw. 

In the end it doesn't matter what skateboarders think because these commercials where not made for us. These two fashion brands are just using skateboarding to sell to the masses like they always have. Props to Alex and Eli for cashing in and probably making more in a few days of shooting than the blue collar pros make in a month. In the end if you need a backpack, get one from Dakine

P.S. Coach, it's not a good look to have ads on your ad. 

1 comment:

eas said...

LV wins on style, also it's shorter and the skating is more exciting. Weird reference, the LV logo at the end reminds me of the Axion logo...