Remember the LeTigre clothing line? Those Izod wannabe’s from the near side of the pond? They’re attempting a comeback [pun intended. pun will become clear later.] but seem to be struggling with their identity. Go to their homepage and scroll through the marketing wankery. It begins: "LeTigre is an American classic…" and ends: "Sported by American icons such as Ronald Reagan, Wilt Chamberlain, Peter North, and LL Cool J, LeTigre is worn today by YOU!"
An odd collection of characters. Wait, Peter North? Hmmm… let’s Google him. Whoa, Nelly! Um, maybe there is another Peter North, one who is obscured on Google by the popularity of certain recreational bodily functions. So we go to Wikipedia’s Peter North disambiguation page. Well, there’s the first one, and then the only other options are a Canuck and a Limey. Looks like we had the right guy.
So what does LeTigre want with Peter North? It kind of puts a different spin on their interpretation of iconic Americana, but Wilt and LL "Big Ole Butt" Cool J do indeed seem to fit that picture. With Reagan, it’s more of a linguistic metaphor. With the screwing of the masses, and all of that.
If you click on the "Contest" link, it takes you to http://www.collegehumor.com/hottestgirl/. So that’s LeTigre’s intended audience: young males, who we know are horndogs. But still, I can’t believe this knowing wink, this most rancid of Easter eggs, really made it past LeTigre’s PR office. Oh well. Ronald Reagan and Peter North. Two great communicators, brought together by style.
update:
It all makes sense. It’s been suggested to me that LeTigre isn’t aligning itself with the likes of Izod (and J. Crew and Polo). They just have a slightly preppier take on the American Apparel manifesto: using porn to go after the hipster ironist.
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