Balenciaga's Star-Studded Summer Campaign

In light of the launch, office sat down with Lucien to discuss the collaboration, the importance of community, and how his dear friend, the late Virgil Abloh inspired this milestone.

So what is DCV’87? 

Lucien Clarke– Firstly, it stands for Dark Clarke Views but I really want to keep the interpretation open to anything; I guess it depends on the mood really. I’d say that the general idea is that it's sort of my outlook and how I perceive the world, almost like a creative bubble and outlet.

Why was it important for you to have your own brand? Did you want to have more of a structure for the community that's grown around your creative projects? 

I’d say that it wasn't really important for me to start a company as much as it was to have a platform to be able to show people what I'm up to and that goes for photography, videos, design. I just did it because I thought it’d be fun, not necessarily to start a brand although it’s kind of turning into that more than I initially planned. 

How long have you been working on the collaboration with DC? Were you thinking about it before you started DCV’87? 

Well, actually when Virgil and I worked on that first shoe, we took a lot of inspiration from DC silhouettes. It’s almost like we planned this whole situation; we knew that they’d obviously see the reference, which was kind of paying homage to them through a luxury brand like Louis Vuitton. When news broke about Virgil and time went on, Josh Kalis hit me up and was like, ‘there’s always a home over here at DC if you ever want to have that conversation.’ And obviously, yeah, I was trying to have that conversation, so we spoke and hit it off immediately. This was the first project they really wanted to do and as soon as I got signed to them, we were working on it straight away. The shoe was about a year in the making, so it was a pretty quick turnaround.

How did the design come about (fusing two iconic DC silhouettes)? 

Well firstly, I knew that they never did that before. I wanted to keep it OG, but also create a shoe that was a bit thinner. There’s people that love the chunkier sole, but others who like a shoe that’s more fitted. We tried to do the full OG lynx at first but I felt that was what everyone expected. 

How did you decide on the colorways?

Oh man, a lot of people are chatting it up about the white ones. Those ones aren't actually going to be sold but based on the amount of people that are just banging on about it, I think we might have to release it a bit later down the line. 

The black is just universal I reckon, and the brown ones were inspired by these shoes by Andrew Reynolds I saw growing up. The shoe was called Bling by Andrew Reynolds, an Emerica shoe – it was one of his first to have the same color. I thought people would get that unconsciously.

In terms of the campaign, what inspired you to shoot in Jamaica with Julian Klincewicz. Obviously, you're from there, but I'm curious to know what drew you back. 

Actually it was unfinished business to be honest. Before Virgil passed away, we were meant to shoot in Jamaica for the second shoe so I wanted to continue that and complete the mission. And we did it. Also got to spend time with my family, which was quite wholesome.

Was there a specific city in Jamaica that you focused on or did you travel around the island?

The majority of it was shot in Kingston, but we traveled around the entire island of course; nothing specific, just places my family knew. We were just enjoying our time out there, and it was just perfect really. I was there before the campaign actually for my uncle’s funeral so all of my family was there before the DC guys showed up. My family stayed on to be on the trip with me – my mom, my aunt, my uncle. He knows Jamaica like the back of his hand so he was driving us around mostly. It was cool for them to be on a trip and to see what I get up to.

Were you in Jamaica when you started skateboarding? 

No actually, I started skateboarding when I moved to London when I was about 12, 13. I was in Hyde Park by the Albert Memorial one day, and that was the first time I saw skaters even. The next day, my step dad bought me a skateboard and I haven’t stopped since.

Did you visit any skate parks in Jamaica while out there shooting the campaign? 

Yeah actually, the skate community there is pretty big now. In the span of three to four years, things kind of popped off there, starting just before the pandemic. They’ve got like three skateparks now. 

What was it like interacting with some of the younger skaters? I feel like outdoor hubs like that are so important for today’s youth. 

Absolutely, it was kind of a shock to be honest. Obviously you see everything over the internet, but to actually be there and see how fast the kids have progressed just from skateparks existing there and watching videos online. 

I guess pros are starting to go over there more often so they actually get to see pro skaters in the flesh to get inspired by and what not but its beautiful to see that there’s a proper community now, which I didn’t think would happen for a long time.

That’s beautiful. It’s really cool to see skateboarding and its culture as a kind of glue that connects so many different communities. 

Definitely, definitely.

What are some of the reactions you’ve received about the collab? 

Mainly good feedback, obviously you get a couple of haters but overall good. A lot of people are just happy about the transition from the higher price point with the LV releases to one that is more affordable for skateboarders. It was super important for me for that to be the first project for me to come out with.

What else do you have planned with DCV’87 this year?

I’m planning on releasing another book, a zine type of thing around the whole project. Julian’s planning on releasing one as well so you’ll really get to see what we were trying to do. It’s going to be a compilation of imagery like phone clips, screen grabs and film footage in chronological order with context incorporated throughout. I'm looking forward to it truly.