Buck Mason’s second collaboration with Lee centered its campaign around Johnny Daigo and the Yokohama Twisting Club in Japan. The art team had shot a beautiful film just before I arrived, and I was tasked with giving the piece a narrative framework—connecting Johnny and the club back to the collaboration and the clothes themselves.
"I'm a bit of a twisted person"- Johnny Daigo
Rockabilly, rebellion, and nostalgia—this is the backdrop from which Johnny Daigo draws inspiration. At the core of it all is a guitar-driven genre of music that emerged in the South after World War II, blending hillbilly country with the rhythms of swing, the shuffle of boogie-woogie, and the 12-bar structure of rootsy southern blues. Like Johnny himself, Rockabilly is the result of a culmination of cultures.
Concentrated in the tiny sphere of the Memphis music scene during the 1940s, where not unlike a pressure cooker, the mix of styles released their steam in a frenetic, fast-paced explosion of energy aimed at dance floors across America. Through the sounds of Chuck Berry, Carl Perkins, and Elvis, Rockabilly would go on to make its way across the globe, giving restless souls everywhere a reason to put their "cat clothes" on, and find a place to dance.
FOR TWISTERS ONLY
For twisters only, a very limited edition of chain-stitched Lee X Buck Mason 101J Jackets and screen-printed vintage tees, dedicated to our friends in Japan, Johnny Daigo and the Yokohama Twistin' Club. Art by Studio Shibuya, inspired by twistin' cats all over the globe. Lee X Buck Mason 101J Jackets available online only. Vintage tees available in-store at our Flatiron, Abbot Kinney, South Congress, and 12 South locations.