Swagabonds

A while back my friend Gigi Freyeisen asked me to shoot a small lookbook for her brand Swagabonds in the streets of Skid Row, Los Angeles. For those of you who aren't familiar with Skid Row... it is known as the homeless capital of the United States. Everyday over 17,000 people including mentally ills, drug dealers, drug addicts, sex workers, and so many other walks of life gather in this small section of Downtown Los Angeles. That being said, I was a bit skeptical about walking around with all my camera gear through this area... but agreed to do the shoot seeing it as a good excuse to document this area and Swagabonds is a brand with a cause. Gigi collaborated with artists living in Skid Row to design the collection (the first fashion brand to do this). Each piece is made in LA and signed by the artist himself, who will receive 20% of the selling price... providing them with a much needed source of income.

We spent an afternoon shooting the clothing around the streets of Skid Row with Yael Greenberg & Robert Carson (a Skid Row native) as the models. The images you see here are from that shoot. And the video at the end is for their Kickstarter campaign. They started small, but need additional funds to help get the brand off the ground and support the artists they are working with. I highly suggest you head over and make a donation, every bit helps!

Go support the Kickstarter campaign here!