OneMethod has its sights sets on improving international relations. The (pun intended) method: a new clothing collection that plays with the idea of cross-border cultural identity.
Launched Thursday, the collection is a mash-up of Canadian and American iconography, including items like a T-shirt screen printed with an American flag that subs in maple leaves for stars. It made its debut at Toronto’s Queen St. boutique Get Fresh Co., which OneMethod used as a pop-up to sell the wares.
Called The Free Up (a reference to “re-up” re-releases and remixes in hip hop), the line is an extension of a previous fashion project called the Free Trade Collection. A little over a year ago, OneMethod went into a pitch hoping to sell a major league sports team on a new lifestyle brand. Rather than a direct connection to the team, the clothing line celebrated the international connections of the sporting world.
The team didn’t bite. While it did hire the agency, it didn’t think the fashion line was a fit. Still, OneMethod thought it was on to something, so the agency launched the line itself. The Free Trade Collection was a near sell-out, becoming the latest in a line of agency experiments out of OneMethod’s “Meth Lab” that has taken a minimum viable product and turned it into a successful business.
Like La Carnita before it – which started as a OneMethod taco pop-up and is now one of Toronto’s most popular restaurants – the fashion line has blossomed into something more than an agency one-off.
Amin Todai, CCO of OneMethod, said the agency plans to continue to roll out a new product via its online store each month until fall, when it will debut a new collection. He wants the collection to be constantly evolving, instead of adhering to the strict, season-based schedule of the fashion industry.
One Method is also hoping the collection will become its fashion calling card. Beyond handling fashion marketing campaigns, Todai said the agency wants to be integrated into the design process for fashion brands. Recently, it did some design work for Canada Goose, working with the label to test integrating wearable technology into its famous coats.
That kind of work often stems from experiments like the Free Trade Collection, Todai said. The line goes beyond showing off the agency’s expertise in fashion branding and design – it also shows the agency likes to experiment and think outside of the box.
“Clients will come to us for that type of thinking. When we’re talking to a sports team or Canada Goose, it’s more exploratory design thinking work that’s not necessarily the ad agency model. It helps with clients, they like that we do some of that heavy lifting and different thinking than they get from a traditional ad agency – or a design agency.”
These experiments likewise help talent acquisition, retention and agency culture. When new staffers join the agency, they often list Meth Lab projects as a driving reason that attracted them to the agency.
They also keep new ideas cycling through the agency. “We’re giving people some other energy that helps drive client work,” Todai said. I don’t see them as separate. Some of the thinking and design we do on this side helps drive ideas for client work that wouldn’t necessarily come through the traditional art director and copywriter pow-wow.”
Long term, OneMethod would like to spin the clothing line off as a separate, revenue-generating business. “Just like La Carnita, we do these things at One Method in hopes of getting these businesses off [the ground],” Todai said.
“You never know with these things. That could have gone nowhere, but it went somewhere. It’s the same thing with the clothing line, we’re giving it a go.”
