London-based streetwear label Corteiz carefully picks who it collaborates with. You can imagine that the brand, which has arguably become the biggest new streetwear label, has a long list of people lining up to secure a collaboration with it, and yet, its co-branded collections are few and far between.
The rarity of Corteiz dropping a collaboration is undoubtedly part of what has made its previous exploits with Nike and Supreme a big deal — along with the brand's signature guerrilla marketing and the significance of working with such big names in the streetwear scene.
Now, the brand is teasing its latest collaboration and it's linked up with a more niche name, the photographer Simon Wheatley.
Ever since the Grime was born in early-2000s London, Wheatley has been on the ground documenting the music genre and its culture. He’s photographed all the biggest names in the scene (Skepta, Wiley, Kano, D Double E, Roll Deep, etc.) and taken iconic pictures of the early days of pirate radio and MCs doing sets in youth clubs.
One photo that continually does the rounds is of Crazy Titch, one of the early pioneers of the grime sound, walking his dog in a park in front of two tower blocks. Now, that photo is being repurposed by Corteiz.
The picture covers the outside of a shell jacket from the brand, part of its waterproof Elitework line.
Despite currently being incarcerated for a revenge attack that resulted in murder, Titch gave the jacket his seal of approval by commenting on Corteiz's Instagram post revealing the jacket with: “OLD ME”.
Not limited only to a jacket, an Instagram story from Clint419, Corteiz's founder, reveals that there are also T-shirts with the photo possibly being released, the back of which have “Don’t call me urban!” scribbled across the back referencing Wheatley’s 2010 book of the same name.
Naturally, the reveal of these T-shirts begs the question of whether there are more Corteiz x Simon Wheatley pieces to be revealed. Could it be part of a bigger capsule collection? Wheatley certainly has enough iconic photos that can be utilized for graphic prints.
