Ksubi Eyewear & Kane Skennar. A Fashionable Match.

above: images from three different Ksubi eyewear campaigns, all shot by Kane Skennar

In addition to their apparel and eyewear, Australian fashion brand Ksubi combines fashion, culture, art and music. Their irreverent runway antics at Australia's Fashion Week (like releasing live rats onstage) their late night parties, published books, art installations and music events distinguish them from other fashion brands.

Known mainly for their denim apparel that appeals to celebs and hipsters alike, I find their advertising photography - specifically for their eyewear collections over the past several years- is often as compelling, if not more so, than the actual products.

Their latest eyewear collection for 2011 -- Eye, Eye -- features 11 new pairs of eyeglasses with an industrial style and fashionable appeal. And the photographs make them even more attractive.

While Ksubi eyewear and the ad campaigns are often blogged about, the unsung hero, who is rarely mentioned, is Australian photographer Kane Skennar. Close friends with the Ksubi team he shot this most recent ad campaign as well as the "Book Club" Collection of Ksubi Eyewear from the previous year and other Ksubi eyewear ad campaigns, including the notorious Dickheads campaign (shown later in this post).

2011 Ksubi Eye Eye campaign, shot by Kane Skennar in 2010:







The above campaign was styled by in-house creatives at Ksubi. The models featured are: Heidi Harrington (South African/ Australian), Rose Smith (a new model from Perth), model of the moment, Bambi, and two male models who are friends of ksubi and long-term ksubi ambassadors, Dion Antony, and 19 year old Jann Cruraszkiewicz from Melbourne making his modelling debut.

Ksubi Book Club campaign, shot by Kane Skennar in 2009:




Another Ksubi eyewear campaign, shot by Kane Skennar (year unknown):





One of their most hilarious ad campaigns for Ksubi shot by Skennar featured eyeglasses on male genitalia, turning the male member from a penis to a proboscis. These images toured as a photographic exhibition ‘Magnum Opus’, shown in Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and Paris. The exhibition highlighted the ‘Ksubi for dickheads’ sunglasses range, and was also be seen in LA and NY.

The 2006 Ksubi for Dickheads campaign shot by Kane Skennar:







Kane Skennar has an impressive portfolio with editorial, beauty, portraiture and more photography. See his work here.

Ksubi, who is best-known for their denim apparel, music affiliations and art installations (and sadly, for their financial troubles), was co-founded and directed by surfers Dan Single (who also goes by the name of Dangerous Dan in the Sydney based DJ six-piece "Bang Gang"), George Gorrow, Paul Wilson and Oscar Wright in 2002. Initially the brand was named Tsubi, but was sued in 2006 by Tsubo and as a result, changed their name to Ksubi.

a big thanks to Ksubi and Kane Skennar for the information and images.


Ksubi