Creative Director
// Idea, Pitch
VF Corp
// Van's shoes
We were inspired by the collaboration Vans did with Chef Tyler Kord in creating the No. 7 Classic Slip-On, the worlds first official kitchen shoe, and a quote from Doug Palladini about how to approach kitchen culture. We turned to a chef that we know well, Jamie Bissonnette
In the best scenarios, your partners should have more good ideas than they have time to present, Starcom found itself in just this position when we were pitching the Vans business for VF Corp. This idea focuses on a Van’s specific target, the Expressive Creator, and builds on a cultural area that they had already begun exploring.
A chef designed shoe that sees some of its proceeds donated to cover health care costs for small independent restaurant workers makes sense from a brand and business point of view.
We wanted to get Jamie’s take on Vans and kitchen culture. Jamie’s observations around health care being an important cultural issue in Restaurant culture led us to think about a collaboration with a purpose that transcends the functional and is built around the idea of empowering those who may not be celebrity chefs but certainly are Expressive Creators.