To an untrained eye, the humble corner shop might seem like a rogue choice as the backdrop for a fashion campaign. But over the past decade, the local shop—or bodega/corner mart in the U.S. —has carved out a place for itself in brand campaigns and magazine spreads.
Diesel’s FW17 campaign was set in a fluorescent-illuminated bodega; and in December 2017, British department store Selfridges launched its ‘Corner Shop’ offering, a section of the shop which hosts pop-ups for brands like Gucci, Prada, Louis Vuitton, and Martine Rose. Meanwhile, in 2017, A$AP Rocky and AWGE (the creative collective he led with A$AP Mob) transformed the Selfridges basement into a New York-style Bodega (With Rocky even manning the counter at one point). U.S. Streetwear chain ‘Bodega’ has also taken on the bodega branding, with a bodega corner in its LA store and an exterior lined with crates of fruit. Further, every magazine from Paper to Vogue has dropped a shoot set in a bodega.
So why has such a quotidian location made such an impact in an industry obsessed with perfection? The most obvious reason is the contrast it ignites: nothing makes an opulent fit more disarming than when it’s set against shelves lined with Heinz (the OG brand also had its own high fashion moment in the form of a collaboration with Kate Spade last year): Does a thought-out outfit ever feel more extra than when you hit up the corner shop before a night out?
But it’s also to do with the cultural landscape: the corner shop is a nostalgic ode to IRL errand running amid an age of digital supremacy when large swaths of Gen Z feel nostalgic for the past – including brick-and-mortar shopping experiences. It’s also an international symbol of community, and, for better or worse, an opportunity for brands to project a sense of relatability: to say “We get it. We might sell £800 jeans, but we buy rizzla from the corner shop too.” So it’s no wonder influencers—who are constantly accused of being out of touch—soon adopted the corner shop as their own free set.
The corner shop aesthetic also emerged around the same time that lo-fi, DIY campaign imagery gained traction. In the place of high-definition photos in suave locales were campaigns embracing ‘imperfect’ looking models (so it tracks that Diesel’s bodega-centric campaign was titled ‘go with the flaw’) and set in gas stations and laundrettes, while Vetements staged a show in a McDonald’s and Burberry in a no-frills British caf. It also chimed with the rise of street culture in fashion, with houses like Balenciaga releasing a high fashion iteration of the ubiquitous Ikea bag and Vetements its own take on the checked shopper your grandma used to bring to the market. It’s as though the embracing of the bodega was another piece in the democratization of the fashion aesthetic, a rail against perfection and elitism in a famously elitist, often inaccessible industry. (Or, it was just another marketing stunt).
On a darker note, the corner aesthetic (at least when adopted by influencers) reflected the ‘surveillance chic’ trend—a high-fashion riff on Big Brother and the constant filming of us with or without our knowledge and consent via CCTV campaigns and faux mugshots—as they often captured their fits in the see-all bubble mirrors designed to allow shopkeepers to keep an eye on the entire store (or, like Kendall Jenner did, in the CCTV screens).
When it comes down to it, it’s always gonna be refreshing to see locales that we actually frequent reflected in fashion campaigns. What’s more, corner shops are multi-cultural, often family-owned businesses that are surviving despite the big chain and online shopping takeover — so why not give them their fashion dues and some free marketing? (As long as brands are paying them properly when renting them out, ofc.)
Homepage image via Getty©
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