NYFW: Timberlake alias William Rast |
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| Thursday, 11 September 2008 | |
 William Rast, the denim brand that Justin Timberlake started with his best friend, Trace Ayala had sort of a jump-off at New York Fashion Week by showing its first complete men and women's ready to wear line. The highly anticipated collection showed a focus on denim and an eye toward
Timberlake and Alaya’s Tennessee roots. The result was trendied-up redneck chic — torn tomboy jeans, vests, slouchy blazers and T-shirts — and not a trucker hat in sight. It was cool vintage style denim with a very southern, fresh and natural air and got great acclaim.
After Timberlake and Alaya started William Rast in 2005, the brand did not grow much. The duo hired Johan and Marcella Lindeberg as creative heads to develop a full lifestyle brand that would eventually include everything from edgy leather jackets and skinny jeans to military vests and miniskirts. The new products started hitting stores, including Nordstrom, Bloomingdale’s and Neiman Marcus last month. |
Those who had hoped to see a move or hear a sound from Timberlake got disappointed. Timberlake’s face time at the William Rast show was limited to a video advertisement and a brief post-runway bow. The rock star features in the ad campaign — a series of Webisodes —as — who else? — William Rast, a down-and-dirty Southern guy on the run with his girlfriend, Birdie, played by model Erin Wasson (who, herself, is launching a womenswear collection (Erin Wasson x RVCA) in collaboration with surf and skate lifestyle brand RVCA).