One of our all time favourite leggings releases is called “Dark Sixties” featuring the artwork of the one and only – Aubrey Beardsley. The title refers more to the feel of the design which reminded us of the more dark and mysterious aspects of the “hippie” generation.
Aubrey Beardsley was a Victorian era English illustrator and along with Oscar Wilde, a leading figure in the aesthetic movement. He produced a massive body of some of the most elegant and unique artwork ever during his brief lifetime. He was only 25 years old when he died, which makes his accomplishments that much more mind blowing.
His craftsmanship and style were an obvious influence on 60’s counter culture pop and poster art. We wanted to release a legging that somehow paid tribute to that lineage. This Beardsley image perfectly encapsulates a certain late 60’s vibe of sexuality, drugs and a certain darkness seeping into the mainstream consciousness.
Images below are a selection of of Aubrey Beardsley’s work, followed by a couple of examples of psychedelic poster art from the late 60’s that clearly bear his influence.
The process of creating and designing these leggings, was fairly involved and required us to actually re create by hand, additional panels of line artwork that had to perfectly match the Aubrey Beardsley look and feel. Harder then in looks. We wanted the image to flow from one leg onto the other as a fluid drawing would.
