Threading the past to the present through fashion and advertising
At the same time Hermann Melville was publishing his pivotal novel Moby Dick and California was in the grips of its first gold-rush, Arrow began to produce the first of their authentic American fashion apparel. Over 160 years this autumn, Arrow are launching their new collection of men’s shirts, featuring a three-tier offering of their signature garment – classic, casual and contemporary designs.
Here at PORT, we’re huge fans of Arrow shirts for their wearability and ‘to-the-point’ attitude. But we’re also big fans of their printed advertisements – from their typographically lush prints of the 1890s to the tongue-in-cheek sauce of the “Turn it on!” advertisement of 1948, Arrow’s have flirted successfully with kitsch humour, adding a dimension to their brand that has kept it fresh throughout the decades. Here is a selection of our favourites.
