BUYER BEWARE: A LOVE LETTER TO CAV EMPT
Cav Empt - derived from the Latin phrase “Caveat Emptor” meaning ‘let the buyer beware’- is a seemingly counterintuitive notion for a brand that is part of the fashion-consumer circle.
Although it’s this exact approach that Cav Empt takes that is so intriguing to us, urging the consumer to reflect on what they are digesting in society, and looking deeper into the current state of capitalism. Even if it means they won’t like what they find.
When we think of fashion today, what springs to mind? Diversity, subcultures, history, expressiveness? We think all of the above and more. Although there is one common theme within fashion that looms over it. A necessary evil that drives the industry, albeit eating away at it too with each passing season. This is saturation. Saturation is a force that derives from the aftermath of popularity and overindulgence. A force that can hold a brand above the heavens, just to knock it straight back down again when it decides to shift its focus to another.
But what happens when brands become oversaturated? We have seen certain brands skyrocket to new heights through popularity to only become over-saturated, and what once could have been a small cult of devoted members, becomes a giant pool of temporary fans. We have seen this with the giants of the streetwear industry with the likes of BAPE, Supreme, and many others. How many times have you heard someone say ‘It’s just not like the old days’ – well because frankly, it isn’t. But what happens when a brand doesn’t want to follow along the usual theme of playing the age-old game of capitalism? Even more so, was created from the notion of despising this over-consumed and easily digested form of fashion. Well, then you get Cav Empt: The Renegade of Streetwear.
In Darkness, came a lightbulb moment
The inception of the Japanese-based Streetwear-meets-retrofuturism fashion brand Cav Empt flips the head of the usual ‘right time, right place’ theory, and instead, it is more of a ‘wrong place, wrong time, just right people’ scenario. In 2011, an Earthquake had hit Tokyo forcing much of its power to be limited, and in turn, the bright lights and the dazzling streets were dimmed. Cell reception was whipped out in some areas and public transport was limited; what seemed like the centre of the universe to the residents now seemed isolated and dark. This setting almost seems too philosophical to be true, for the birth of a brand that takes so much inspiration from technology and communication.
During this blackout, the 3 founders of the brands, Toby Feltwell, Hishiyama "Hishi" Yutaka, and the graphic designer legend, Shinichiro Nakamura [sk8thing], would come together and give birth to something new during the passing of another.
What’s that saying? When one door shuts, another one opens? Well in typical C.E philosophical nature this shutting of a door happened to be the sale of the incredibly popular streetwear brand, A Bathing Ape. Toby and Sk8thing were very closely knitted into the BAPE and Billionaires Boys Club family and had seen the Bathing Ape brand go from a niche streetwear brand to a phenomenon, being represented by some of the most influential people in the world. It was this certain rise to fame, and in such losing some of its original authenticity, that would bring the 3 heads together and build a brand that actively wanted to do the opposite.
After the sale of BAPE, Toby and Sk8thing would join back up with Hishi to be head of production and set up Cav Empt among the darkness of Tokyo. Peculiar really, that they would launch a venture in such an uncertain time, but as is the essence of the enigmatic Cav Empt.
Diversity
Before we dive into the accumulative network which is the inspiration and philosophy of the graphic design used throughout C.E, we first want to touch upon the basic foundations of Cav Empt’s clothes which allow it to sit among some of the best Japanese streetwear brands today. Its usage of often wide and structured silhouettes, its take on other culture staples such as the British tracksuits, and its sometimes experimental approach to textiles like the usage of over-dyeing garments and distressing them [these guys were doing it before the Yeezy days] is just a few ways Cav Empt stands out from the rest.
What C.E does so well is its way of not narrowing itself to be one certain genre of fashion, but instead, whilst keeping within its branding, metamorphizes itself to other cultures. Mixing contemporary with tech wear, mixing British roadman with streetwear. Cav Empt doesn’t try to be someone specific, and in doing so allows it to be anyone it wants.
Cav Empt has been seen to continually break down boundaries of the ordinary, one time in particular when it collaborated with the world-renowned sports brand, Nike, In January 2019. The collection consisted of a cap, gilet, tracksuit top and bottoms, as well as a long sleeve football-like top/jersey. Rounding off the collection was a staple silhouette shoe in the Air Max 95’s [also known as 110’s]– C.E delivered its staple cyberpunk meets dystopian look with pixel camo detailing and unique fabrics, to what resembles a British Football training kit. The capsule blended founders Toby and Sk8things origins in both British and Japanese fashion to create a standout capsule that broadened people's expectations of what C.E was capable of.
Days of Future Past
The bread and butter to C.E’s brand is its memorable, retro-futuristic, and often confusing graphic design. Sk8thing is said to handle almost 100% of the graphic design for C.E, and it is clear that he takes inspiration from a wide number of things, but most notably days of future past themes. Common focuses include dystopian city settings, now antique-looking retro bits of technology, and sometimes cyberpunk motifs. Many think Sk8thing's choice of designs are almost random, or too confusing, although the die-hard fan base thinks deeper, and there are many theories and takes on the designer’s choice.
This even comes through within the C.E tag. Digital nostalgia chimes off the use of two computer monitors, resembling the old Mac which some think is a nod to Sk8things original machine he learned to design on. Its often-deliberate nods to a past age of a ‘simpler' time can be to no coincidence, and in past interviews both Feltwell and Sk8thing have expanded on this to suggest that it is a purposeful method of trying to get the consumer to reflect on the current technological advancements in the world today.
They advised that technology today is so ever-changing, and so accessible that with each update it becomes less and less impactful on us. We are so used to the advancements in technology that we are blind to it, and we forget how far we have come.
“Technology works in an insidious way to make us forget it hasn’t always been there and it quickly becomes invisible, normal, boring. Looking at old technology can help bring the true nature of the present into focus.”
What we can take from this is that C.E wants us to look to the past to get inspiration for the future and have an even more grounded respect and understanding of the present. We must not blindly follow technology to our demise, but instead we should reflect on what we have achieved. If we look at the perspective of the future in the past, it was that we would have instant connectivity with the world, bringing us closer, we would have systems in place to bring peace, and to have solutions to world-dominating crisis’, yet you could argue that technology has only brought us further away from this precipice of safety and comfort. We should not have this naivety for our next stages of evolution and looking to the past can remind us of this.
Technology is God
Other design elementals of CE include the insignia labeled the Ziggurat. A ziggurat is a structure that was built in ancient Mesopotamia and is a massive stone structure resembling a type of pyramid. It consists of giant stairways, which traditionally symbolizes a link between the gods and humankind.
There is no real confirmed reason why Cav Empt may use this symbol, although C.E has been known to use a lot of architectural influences in and amongst there cybernetic arsenal of graphics and motifs. We also like to think that the link between the ziggurat is trying to tell us how we as a race are creating things that bring us closer to being our own god. The numerous connections which both architecture and cybernetic advancements, both man-made things, used within the ziggurat may be a subliminal bridge to this theory.
The links with Cinema and literature
Another big inspiration for the brand is cinema, and more specifically 60s–70s film stars. If we look at the iconic arm logo that is utilised on many C.E pieces, this depicts an image that the creators had seen which related to an idea created early days from Feltwell in the inception of the brand. The badge, known as the pre-cog badge, is a reference to the same Philip K. Dick novel ‘Ubik’ [the same place where they got the name for Cav Empt from] – In the novel, Pre-cogs have the ability to see into the future and Toby had the idea of characters holding their heads as if having a premonition. Later they saw an image that was similar to this description in an old film which led to the pre-cog icon, as well as utilising the same women in many graphics throughout 2014 and 2015.
Alongside this notion, C.E has been known to use many different actresses within its extremely popular ‘Icon’ series, and amongst other popular pieces. These are known to any die-hard C.E fan and casuals alike, and the brand often shows either close up shots of women’s eyes or women on the phone, linking again to a possible retro-futuristic theme of old mobile phones and means of communication. One of which is Italian actress Marina Malfatti, who is emblazoned on the ultra-popular and now mythical Icon Pullover. The graphic below has been taken from ‘Seven Blood-Stained Orchids’ [1972] by Umberto Lenzi.
Making Noise
As well as both technology and Cinema, Cav Empt also has some deep roots within the music industry. Feltwell was a former A&R at Mo’ Wax and XL recordings, two very famous British Record labels. After XL Recordings his career in the music industry would end to move to Japan and work with NIGO. Toby Feltwell was very much dialed into the British Grime scene during his time in the UK and the relationship between C.E and music was formed in the very early days of its life.
Right at the start of the creation of Cav Empt, Toby wanted D Double E, British Grime Artist giant, to model for its first lookbook.
“The one ambition for setting up the brand is that we wanted D Double E to wear the clothes in the lookbook, and we hadn’t really looked beyond doing one collection of clothes and having D Double E wear it”
This set the foundation of its sometimes-audio-visual aesthetic, as well as its British links too. This would be solidified even more when they would go on to join forces with British electronic music producer Zomby [somewhat of an enigmatic legend himself within the electronic music industry – we can see why he would be a good pick for the brand]. Zomby would go on to create an ethereal-sounding piece of music, titled ‘Trapdoor’, where he would sport the Spring/Summer 13 collection wearing his iconic mask.
Not only does Cav Empt release lookbooks utilising the music industry as a confluence of two worlds, but they also collaborate with multiple DJ’s and output cassettes. Working with the likes of Techno masters Ben UFO and Tzusing to name just a few, it’s clear that their usage of music here is to try and blend the visual aesthetic of Cav Empt's design, and bring that forward audibly. Mixtapes of often transcendent, ambient techno, with the chimes of slow and ominous grey area sounds, and a touch of chaotic and brutal bassy beats bring forward an image of a purgatory-like, sci-fi dystopian world [a little bit of resemblance to the way Toby had described Tokyo post the 2011 Earthquake]. As well as this, it is not out of the ordinary for the tapes to throw in some slow, retro-sounding jazz or disco and triphop, just adding to the brand's retro style. We highly advise giving the below a listen and becoming engulfed into everything that CE is. Thank us later.
Buyer Beware
Aside from the clothing itself, what stands out most with C.E is the deeper messaging behind the brand and some of its collateral. As mentioned before, ‘Buyer Beware’ is not what you’d usually see within a brand that thrives off consumerism. It’s this deliberate usage of introspectiveness that Cav Empt wants to deliver through its graphic design and messaging that makes the brand so interesting. There are few brands to try and communicate a sense of self-thought on what the consumer digests, but we feel that C.E does this on both a fashionable level as well as a societal level too.
One of the most direct uses of this almost mocking nature of design includes a hat from the Spring/Summer collection of 2017, in which it sported the wording ‘Silly fancy goods, designed to create the illusion of a full life” – This quote is taken directly from an Marxist academic collective Krisis Group and its from an essay titled “Against Labor, Against Capital”. This fun little strapline tells us a lot about Cav Empt’s core ethos. On one side of the coin, it can be seen as Cav Empt simply mocking the buyer. Shining some light on society’s usage of consumerism to make us feel good; to make us feel happy, fulfilled, and have a sense of self belonging. On the other hand, this may be not to mock the consumer but instead to mock the way society has brought this upon itself and to challenge the flaws within the system we have inadvertently created.
With the way social media puts such an emphasis on ‘living your best life, your whole life’ this creates a fake reality in which you feel pressured to wear the best clothes, go to the best places, and spend as much money as you can to create the illusion of a full life. But instead, the buyer should be aware of what consuming is on a higher level. It should think about their digesting and the choices they make, and in doing make a much more distinguished choice of the way they live their life.
More direct statements regarding this is the usage of another quote taken from the same Krisis Group’s manifesto utilised on the titled “Manifesto Shirt”
“The more it becomes obvious that the cavempt society is nearing its end, the more forcefully this realisation is being repressed in public awareness. The methods of repression may be different but can be reduced to a common denominator. The globally evident fact that C.E. proves to be a self-destructive end-in-itself is stubbornly redefined into the individual or collective failure of individuals, companies, or even entire regions as if the world is under the control of a universal idée fixe.”
Very bluntly, C.E is explaining their resentment of consumerism culture, trying to highlight the cycle of fashion which is purely there to fuel an endless engine of consumption. Society today has created the death of a brand through the very same system that is allowing it to thrive. Creating a fabricated timeline, much like we saw with Sk8thing’s old work with BAPE where we saw the overconsumption of something be its way of losing itself, but at the time the buyers are none the wiser to this theory until it’s too late.
‘Buyer Beware’ and messaging like the above to us is something much broader than just a simple hint of sarcasm from the brand, but instead, it’s a message to the culture and society in which Cav Empt has been built around. Beware of the digital media you are indulging in, beware of the trends that are arising and if they are just false gods that will quickly diminish once something else becomes the new thing, and beware of what you are spending your money on. Will it really bring you a fulfilled life, or just 5 minutes of joy that will fade away just like any other form of quick-high euphoria.
Conclusion
What Cav Empt is trying to achieve, and what we take from it, is that it does not want to be for everyone. In fact, It actively does things to try and stray away from the popular ones, and be its own entity, having its own opinion on things and its own way of seeing things. Toby once mentioned -
““We’re making objects and how they are perceived is up to the observer. The possibility that something gets communicated is the exciting part of putting the objects out there. There’s quite a lot to the process... If we could just define in words some idea that we wanted people to receive there would be no point.””
What we take from this is that the 3 geniuses behind C.E want their consumers to not blindly follow a trend. Instead, they want them to reflect on why they want what they want. They want to spark a conversation, they want to encourage introspection and self-awareness, and they want to break the mold of current fashion industry normalities. Don’t get us wrong, Cav Empt is a highly popular and grossing brand that continues to sell out of products. There is a game to play with all brands in the world, and C.E doesn’t shy away from playing this same game so that they can continue to push work out, but we like to think of them as one of the good guys. Ones who challenge the same system there in the hopes of bettering it. Or at the very least, try and rattle the cage.
Cav Empt is not trying to hide a secret that makes the consumer have an ‘ah ha!’ moment, and it also definitely isn’t allowing the people who think they get it to hold that against people who don’t get it; the ‘if you know, you know’ culture. Instead, Cav Empt is a love letter to no one, yet in doing so becomes a love letter to anyone who wishes to believe it is for them. It has a basic level entry for the casual fans to love the brand at a skin-deep level, but also rewards more devoted fans who dive deeper into the brand's philosophy. The consumer is allowed to draw its own conclusions on things, and by utilising this approach it can never become oversaturated within a single crowd.
Instead, it has created a crowd of people that love Cav Empt for their own unique reasoning. Whether it’s down to their ethereal background in electronic music, or its retro-futuristic graveyard of a time before, C.E welcomes all and tries to push them down their own path of self-gratification.
Text by:
Joe Goodwin
