The Dudes Are Alright: How I Learned To Love John Varvatos (Hint: The Roots)

I’ve played the self-righteous card with John Varvatos for far too long. Most of my prior animosity stems from his opening a boutique on the sacred punk ground where CBGBs once stood. I used to have issues with that until I sat down, looked at his suit collection, and told myself, “If CBGBs was open today, I’d probably attend zero shows there, because everything reeked of urine.” Plus, a clothing shop is better than another bank on the Bowery. I came to realize that once you get past the Keith Richard/Johnny Depp wannabe vibe, Varvatos made some damn fine clothing.

Varvatos has done a masterful job at slyly selling his line. The campaign of black and white photos of rock and roll icons wearing his line has boosted his profile, but 2011 has been the banner year for Varvatos. First, it was this Chrysler commercial that is the highlight of the entire campaign aside from the kickoff spot with Eminem:

And now Varvatos has gotten the world’s greatest house band, The Roots, to appear in this incredibly cool new promo spot for his Fall/Winter line:

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Tags: bank, Chrysler, Eminem, John Varvatos, The Roots

Jason Diamond is the editor-in-chief of Jewcy.com, founding editor of Vol. 1 Brooklyn and an associate editor at Impose Magazine. He lives in Brooklyn among a collection of books and records that is ...read more