Barbour White Label featuring Mr. Slowboy

This season Barbour has graced us with a very special collection: Barbour White Label Made for Japan. The essence of the collection is a tribute to Barbour’s rich heritage, with a focus on traditional British clothing, classic designs and a minimalist, high-quality style exclusively tailored to the Japanese market. Features such as waterproof fabrics, reissued archival pieces and iconic styles paired with fresh colours make Barbour White Label a wonderful reinterpretation of classics such as the SL Fit Bedale Jacket, fine knitwear and shirts.

To be completely honest, what really caught our attention first were the artworks featured in the campaign: For White Label, Barbour has teamed up with an outstanding artist whose illustrations are a perfect match to the aesthetics of the collection: Fei Wang a.k.a. Mr. Slowboy.

We’d be lying if we pretended like these fantastic illustrations didn’t impress us. At a glance, you can see exactly in what kind of universe Barbour White Label blends in, the aesthetics pursued here. And yes, they convinced us immediately. But of course the collection really delivers what it promises. Not that anybody wants to accuse us of superficiality here. But isn’t it the interplay of fashion and culture what makes clothing and brands like these so special? That was a rhetorical question.

Mr. Slowboy, whose real name is Fei Wang, is not only an artist, but also had many years of direct contact with the world of fashion as former Head of Art and Creative Director at Ogilvy Beijing, a worldwide renowned agency for brand building, marketing and creative consulting. His work has received significant recognition from Cannes Lions, D&AD, OneShow and London International. In 2014, he was also appointed as a member of the design jury of the renowned Cannes Lions.

But Fei’s passion, however, has always resided with the world of fashion illustration. As an artist, he trained at Singapore’s Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts and completed an MA in illustration at London’s Camberwell College of Arts. In 2015, he moved to London to pursuit a career in fashion illustration, his unique aesthetic and artistic style quickly gained global recognition from not just the mens fashion world but other lifestyle related industries as well. Since then he has completed high profile commissions and collaborations with numerous globally renowned brands and clients.

Slowboy – a nom de plume affectionately chosen for Fei’s even perspective in life and fashion – draws inspiration from diverse multicultural sources. He has arrived at a witty, subtle style with a love for vintage aesthetics and nostalgia, topped with a playfully modern twist that feels unmistakably contemporary. His signature menswear portraits are instantly recognizable and a delightfully retro breath of fresh air, a deliberately measured antidote to the world of fast fashion.