The campaign is for the brand’s “American Soul Since 1830” collection, which will arrive in Woolrich locations sometime later this year. Mel Ottenberg, Rihanna’s go-to stylist, worked with Woolrich and Hill for the fall/winter 2018 capsule. Vogue posed the same question we wondered, why hasn’t the singer ventured into fashion before?
“Lauryn Hill does what Lauryn Hill wants to do,” Ottenberg told Vogue. “She marches to her own beat, and with this project she got to completely show her instincts as a creator. So much of her vibe is in the pictures, it’s so cool.”
Casting Hill in the campaign is part of Woolrich’s move to reshape their brand identity while keeping their workwear roots in denim, outerwear, and their signature checks. For the capsule, jackets are screen-printed with collages of Hill’s album, a piece the singer designed 30 jacket sketches for. Even better, the shoot was done in the Harlem theatre where she shot the video for “Doo Wop (That Thing)” in 1998.
“It was fun to celebrate outfits that display real American grit,” Ottenberg told Vogue. “These pieces have been part of the American vocabulary for over a hundred years, and they are definitely part of my soul as a stylist, and Lauryn’s identity.”