BBH taps China’s underground scene for Levi’s

What’s one of the western hemisphere’s greatest pop culture export of all time? A trusty pair of blue jeans, Levi’s specifically. What’s are some of the east’s gifts to global pop culture? Kick-ass funky art and animation, and video games.

BBH Asia Pacific has combined both sides in a regional integrated campaign for Levi’s “Modern Originals”, featuring a a pair of China’s trendsetting artists: musician Sulumi and illustrator Yan Wei.

Sulumi is hailed as the Chinese godfather of 8-bit music created by old GameBoys (I thought those things could only play the Tetris song..) Sulumi has a huge following among young electronic musicians and fans, both in China and around the globe. Yan Wei, alias Kokomoo, embraces influences ranging from manga/anime and comics, to street art and paintings, with cute and somewhat dark undertones.

“ Modern Originals was ideal as a platform to celebrate originality and the freedom of expression with fresh exciting characters, so we set out to find undiscovered talent that best personified these qualities. We wanted the campaign to be about the artistes as much as it was about the Levi’s Modern Original range, so it was as collaborative as possible.”  says Daniel Ko, Copywriter on the campaign.

Music and artwork especially crafted for Modern Originals range can be downloaded at http://www.ap.levi.com/

Campaign Credits:

Project name: Modern Originals Fall/Winter 2009
Client: Levi Strauss Asia Pacific Divison
Creative agency: BBH Asia Pacific
Creative director: Steve Elrick
Art director: Hoon Pin Kek
Writer: Daniel Ko
Planner: Ayesha Walawalkar, Cherry Chan
Agency producer: D’or Tey / Lesley Chelvan
Production house: YYO
Photographer: Li Qi
Editor/Re-toucher: Dave Phung @ Procolor Imaging