Please Respond: Ant Saunders | an RSVP Gallery x He Tells Stories Collaboration
Please Respond: Ant Saunders | Produced by HTS for RSVP Gallery
After meeting with Don C for this interview, we spoke a bit after about adding a different flavor to RSVP Gallery’s website. I thought it’d be cool if they added a little editorial flair to their online shop, which is something that not many businesses of their kind do.
When I first started as a pro journalist in 2008, mixing commerce with editorial was a touchy endeavor. But now it’s more-so accepted. With palatable titles like branded content, finding an honest way to let the reader/viewer/listener know that whatever they’re taking in is trying to sell a product is alright.
In the fashion space, there aren’t too many stores that I think do commerce editorials well, if at all. I love what Net-a-Porter and brother brand Mr. Porter do. And in the sneaker world, I like where GOAT’s Greatest is headed. But there aren’t many brands that sell what I like to buy (a collection of luxury and streetwear pieces) making what I’d like to see using non-fiction stories. When I hit Don over email a few days after with a fleshed-out pitch, the overall idea was pretty simple: If RSVP Gallery had a magazine, what would it look like? Who would you speak to? Where would you shoot?
Please Respond: Ant Saunders
I met with the RSVP team and after much planning, we have an idea of where we’re going. Newbie pop/R&B kid Ant Saunders was gracious enough to be our premier star for a show called FITTED, where talent mixes their wardrobe with pieces from the RSVP store.
We shot Ant at Pinz in Los Angeles, where he wore Off-White, Raf Simons, Martine Rose, and Nike while bowling and hitting the arcade. Then we sat down for an interview that became a story about how Saunders got his big break and a hit single last summer. All three parts—the photos, video, and story—align with who RSVP is as a brand and what they’re trying to sell: dope clothes.
This is the first of many things we have coming together. Like many, we’ve been slowed down because of COVID-19. You can’t have shoots and big productions when we’re all scared of catching a cureless virus. So we’ve postponed shoots and interviews that would have immediately followed up Ant’s FITTED. But I’m happy this is out in the world.
Enjoy it. We’ll be back in a bit.
Video Executive Produced by BradWete ℅ He Tells Stories
Video Produced by Sir Fleming
Photos by John Marquez
Story by Brad Wete
Location: Pinz Bowling Center
Listen to Ant Saunders’ Bubble
Special Thanks to Arista Records and Sony Music