
Adored by festival goers and celebrities alike, Cupboard Love was the picturesque two-day caravan camp-up in the Louder Lounge of 2011’s V Festival. After a celebrated launch, myself and Sarai sat down with Reemé to recap on the whirlwind...
Q.
SARAI: Reemé, I jumped on board quite late into pre-production, explain how exactly we came across a partnership with Given London?
A.
I met Becky of Given London a while back at the Fashion & Textile Museum and hounded her about an idea I’d had on how to get people re-thinking their wardrobes - by swapping part of (or entire) outfits at a festival with their friends and having the whole thing photographed. Coincidentally Given London had been constructing a campaign around fashion behaviour, a cultural movement called Cupboard Love. Our common-thinking led to Given London hiring me
one year later to help produce the launch of Cupboard Love for their client Virgin Media at this year’s V Festival.
Q.
TESNICA: There’s an obvious trend for vintage at the moment and especially celebrated at festivals where visitors can get creative and don their unique finds. Was it that type of consumer lust that steered your idea for a mechanic to swap clothes in a festival setting or did it not hold much relevance?
A.
If I’m honest, I just really wanted to produce something at a festival and have some fun doing it! But absolutely, the concept of clothes swapping is of course not original but I think with the resurgence of second hand clothes shopping & a tougher economic climate, its been a great time to catch people with imaginative ways to engage their consumer lust more sustainably.
Q.
TESNICA: Sometimes, as we’ve both agreed, the level of pre-production is not fully understood in terms of what goes into an event like Cupboard Love. As the production team we take on a lot of the ‘hidden’ tasks and responsibilities - how would you explain the nature of the work to someone asking you?
A.
Working with the Given London team was a treat, as those guys handled so much of the planning and pitching as well as the tiniest tasks of pinning badges to backing cards, it’s a case of everyone appreciating how big a difference the smallest of details make. I think of our crew like builders, once the concept is planned & commissioned then it’s up to us to source the equipment, the creatives and be the problem solvers.
It can involve anything from creating floor plans to negotiating sponsorships/partnerships, handling badge design to dressing the set.
Q.
TESNICA: Tagging up the clothing, I read the stories written by all the previous owners, the passing of sentiment in each item has to be my favourite part of the campaign. What is for you, the preeminent feature of the Cupboard Love message?
A.
Exactly that, our clothing is more than just clothing, it’s a snapshot of who we are and what we like at any given point in time. The human stories that attach themselves to that time & that clothing can be shared with others through a vehicle like Cupboard Love and continued afterwards, hopefully. It was actually really touching to see how much people embraced what turned out to be an endearingly pretty project, we even had some people who just wanted to donate items to Cupboard Love and not take anything away.
Q.
SARAI: So we’re in post-production now. Cupboard Love has been fun to work on so far, given the success of the launch at the Louder Lounge, what do you see for it’s future?
A.
More festivals [smile]. Joking. I think Given London have more tricks up their sleeve in terms of how the brand message can manifest, although I would like to create something on a rooftop, so maybe we’ll get a chance to swap clothes with a view.
Find out more (and watch our behind-the-scenes video) about Cupboard Love @ V Festival in Part 2 - coming soon!
Sarai Bibby
Prop Stylist
Zapher Idris
Graphic Designer