Dickies Blank Canvas Launch Campaign

Creative Direction

#DickiesBlankCanvas

After a century as the most iconic workwear brand in America, Dickies was looking for fresh ways to connect with their growing streetwear audience while remaining true to their roots. For decades, makers of every kind–from the artisanal to the artistic–had considered Dickies their “blank canvas.” One quick scroll through the #upcycling scene on TikTok was enough evidence that many took that phrase literally. So Dickies decided to mark their centennial with a nine-week celebration of these same makers.

The brand’s agency partner SGK brought me in to develop and deliver the campaign.

Limited Edition Icons

From Japan, Germany, and the UK to Kentucky, North Carolina, and LA, Dickies searched around the world to invite nine online makers to reimagine the brand’s most iconic looks. Boxes of Dickies Icons were shipped to nearly every continent along with a collection of camera gear and one simple piece of direction–capture as much of the process as you can.

Remade by M@kers

In total, each maker created only 30 versions of their designs to be sold across the globe. So while we planned on putting to good use all the content the makers shot themselves, we wanted to balance the DIY vibes of that footage with a more elevated glimpse at the final product. After scouting around Chicago for several weeks, we found the perfect location–a space that equally captured the grit and the grandeur that these modern takes on classic workwear deserved.

Dropping Every Tuesday

For nine weeks, we rolled out the individual story of each maker and their unique creation across social, email, and ecomm. Every Sunday night, Instagram and TikTok went nuts as we posted a sneak peek at the next limited edition icon set to drop that Tuesday morning. Dickies account follows soared, and the Dickies Blank Canvas posts proved to be among the most-engaged-with content in the brand’s social media history. An invite to apply to be in the next wave of #DickiesBlankCanvas drew even more chatter, including over 600 official applications via Dickies’ website.