Simons: Dress Yourself
Simons tasked Scouts Honour with creating a high-impact brand campaign for their new Toronto flagship store. The goal was to differentiate the retailer in a crowded market, moving beyond standard product advertising to build an emotional connection with a diverse, younger audience. The client needed a campaign that felt sophisticated, artistic, and reflective of their commitment to individual self-expression and Canadian heritage.
Creative Idea
Surreal imagery of floating clothes visualized the liberating power of authentic self-expression.
Simons launched a flagship store in Toronto by visualizing the liberating feeling of self-expression through surreal, gravity-defying imagery of clothing floating away from people, inviting consumers to define their own identity rather than following rigid fashion rules.
Gravity Defying Fashion in Cape Town
Choreographing the Impossible
To achieve the surreal, weightless aesthetic, the production team relied on a rigorous four-day rehearsal period on stage using trampolines to perfect the physics of the performers. Executive Producer Simon Dragland noted that the team had to build a library of motion before arriving on location in Cape Town. By the time the crew reached South Africa, they had refined the specific, unique ways the cast engaged with the clothing to ensure the movements looked natural despite the heavy post-production requirements.
A Massive Retail Milestone
The campaign served as the primary marketing vehicle for the opening of a 112,000-square-foot flagship store at the CF Toronto Eaton Centre. This project represented a $100 million investment for the retailer, creating 400 new jobs in downtown Toronto. The brand leveraged high-traffic, high-visibility placements to maximize reach, including immersive displays at Sankofa Square and Union Station, as well as in-flight entertainment on Air Canada flights.
Curating the Atmosphere
Director Mark Zibert sought to move away from traditional celebrity spokespeople, instead casting a diverse group of airborne dancers, cyclists, and parkour athletes to embody the brand's spirit of self-expression. This kinetic energy was underscored by the licensed track "Just Stand There" by Fred Again.. & SOAK. The resulting film was a collaborative effort involving Nimiopere for editorial, Tantrum Studio for VFX and color, and We Are Walker for audio, all working to translate the concept of floating garments into a cohesive, high-fashion narrative.
Creative Strategy Deconstructed
Company
Simons leveraged its 185-year heritage and reputation for high-end, artistic fashion to anchor a major new flagship expansion.
Category
Fashion retailers typically rely on product-focused, seasonal advertising that emphasizes trends, discounts, or celebrity endorsements.
Customer
Modern consumers seek authentic self-expression and empowerment, feeling restricted by traditional fashion labels and societal expectations.
Culture
The rise of individuality and the rejection of fast-fashion conformity made this surreal, artistic approach resonate deeply.
Company
Simons leveraged its 185-year heritage and reputation for high-end, artistic fashion to anchor a major new flagship expansion.
Category
Fashion retailers typically rely on product-focused, seasonal advertising that emphasizes trends, discounts, or celebrity endorsements.
Strategy:
Elevate retail identity by transforming the act of dressing into a poetic, personal liberation.
Customer
Modern consumers seek authentic self-expression and empowerment, feeling restricted by traditional fashion labels and societal expectations.
Culture
The rise of individuality and the rejection of fast-fashion conformity made this surreal, artistic approach resonate deeply.
Strategy:
Elevate retail identity by transforming the act of dressing into a poetic, personal liberation.
Strategy Technique
Build a Brand Myth
Simons moves beyond functional retail benefits to establish a poetic, aspirational narrative. This myth-building positions the brand as a facilitator of personal identity rather than just a clothing provider.
Explore Technique
Creative Technique
Create Fantasy Worlds, People and Things
The campaign uses surreal, gravity-defying imagery to visualize the emotional liberation of self-expression. By detaching clothing from the body, it transforms fashion from a rigid necessity into a dreamlike, personal choice.
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Craft Breakdown
This campaign is elevated by its seamless integration of gravity-defying physical performance and invisible visual effects. The poetic synergy between the choreography and the floating garments creates a highly artistic, memorable brand film.
The CGI integration of the floating, dancing garments is incredibly realistic, matching the lighting and physics of the environments perfectly.
Beautifully shot using natural golden hour light, dynamic camera movements, and creative angles that capture the energy of the movement.
The atmospheric track perfectly drives the emotional build-up and rhythmic pacing of the edit.
The styling, casting, and selection of urban backdrops create a cohesive, youthful, and artistic aesthetic.
“The magic lies in how the fluid choreography of the actors interacts with the simulated movement of the floating VFX clothes, making the surreal concept feel entirely physical.”
