Keds Collective
A multi-year music and fashion platform that documented emerging artists before they became household names. Lady Gaga before The Fame. Lana Del Rey before her record deal. Imagine Dragons. Dozens more.
The Keds Collective was built around a simple premise: find the artists right before everyone else finds them, put them in a room, and document what happens. Each artist got a canvas — a digital drawing space, a live performance, an interview — that became part of the Keds brand identity without feeling like advertising.
The platform ran for several years and accumulated a roster that reads differently now than it did then. At the time, these were emerging artists. In retrospect, it's a document of a moment right before pop culture shifted.
The Artists
Lana Del Rey — October 2009, before her record deal, before Video Games, before any of it. The most-viewed video in the catalog.
The Deadly Syndrome. Also on the roster: Lady Gaga (pre-The Fame), Imagine Dragons, Das Racist, Pharoahe Monch, Bear in Heaven, Solid Gold, Surfer Blood, Team Facelift, and many others — most of them shot before their first major press.
The Original Sneaker Campaign
The companion campaign — The Original Sneaker — built a visual and editorial identity for Keds that was distinctly more magazine than advertisement. Same philosophy: find the right voice, get out of the way.
The Collective's FWA submission won a Favorite Website Award for the interactive platform — the drawing canvas, artist profiles, and music discovery experience built around it.