Pepsi has marked its bold new era with a partnership with emerging designer Jackson Cowden, celebrating not only Pepsi’s new identity, but the reinvention of classic fashion items and conventions, via Special PR.
In partnership with a 22-year-old emerging ‘Digital Fashion Artist,’ the launch of the Pepsi Pulse Collection showcases Pepsi’s new visual identity while challenging the status quo of traditional design.
The bespoke 10-piece strong collection is designed distinctly AI first, taking inspiration from Pepsi’s new brand look and refreshing old familiar staples such as the little black dress and the classic white shirt, with modernity injected through innovative AI methods.
“Finding an interesting way to celebrate such an iconic brand’s refresh was an amazing challenge for us in our first major campaign for Special PR for Pepsi. Taking inspiration from an industry that knows how to reinvent and refresh, we were delighted to find a shared vision with fashion designer and Creative Director for the collection, Jackson Cowden. This campaign launch demonstrates how Pepsi continues to challenge conventions, pushes the boundaries, and always puts enjoyment first,” said Special PR managing director Alex Bryant.
“Following on from hugely successful global launches in other markets, we really wanted our local launch to feel relevant to our culturally thirsty, next-generation drinkers in Australia,” said Vandita Pandey, chief marketing officer ANZ, Snacks Beverages at PepsiCo Australia.
“Pepsi supports the next generation of creators and designers. With our new visual identity being bold, unapologetic, modern, and iconic we wanted to partner with a young designer who could put a unique take on our refresh. It was a privilege to be able to support Jackson to launch his first runway show”.
Using traditional design methods of sketching, pattern making, and multiple sample rounds would normally take Jackson up to nine months to complete a collection. With the young designer choosing instead an alternative approach in AI fashion technology, designing first in the digital world, Jackson was able to complete the final designs in 40 days, minimising waste, saving time, and pushing the boundaries of fashion traditions.
“It’s been incredibly significant for me to partner with Pepsi at this point in my career, a partnership born of our shared values around challenging the status quo, pushing the unconventional and searching for new and bold ways of doing things,” said designer and creative director for the Collection Jackson Cowden.
The Pepsi Pulse Collection does exactly that and more by transcending traditional boundaries and challenging conventional norms. The Pepsi “Pulse” is an illustrative way to tell different stories for the brand. It is Pepsi’s visual response to the beat of culture, reflecting the pulse of the worlds we are immersed in.
In the near future, fashion designers will be increasingly drawn towards digital fashion design, with ‘preconceived rules’ in creative fields abandoned. Pepsi is known for keeping its finger on the culture pulse, and the innovative and creative way this collection has come to life further proves this.
Pepsi’s Pulse Collection was launched last night in partnership with Australia’s leading event and experience creator, Rizer, and showcased in a spectacular setting on the edge of Sydney’s iconic harbour. Fusing the physical and digital worlds, underscored by an exclusive performance from homegrown superstar G Flip, with model Samantha Harris leading the runway with James Parr.
“Jacksons digital design process formed a huge inspiration in creating an unconventional runway show, with the energy of Pepsi’s bold identity. Embracing the unconventional, we blur the lines between fashion, animation, lighting, sound, dance, and performance, all in one story,” said Rizer creative director Zoe Bailey.
The runway was also live-streamed via oOh!media’s iconic full-motion site in The Bourke in Melbourne. In a first for oOh!media’s innovation and creative hub, POLY, they managed the end-to-end production from broadcast to delivery.
The Pepsi Pulse Runway Collection is rolling out across experiential, earned, social and OOH.
