This Menswear Brand Just Dropped a ‘Seinfeld’-Inspired Capsule Collection That’s Straight Out of the ’90s
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East London menswear brand Percival has released a capsule collection about nothing. Or said more precisely, a capsule collection inspired by a show about nothing.
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Seinfeld x Percival marks the 25th anniversary of the classic sitcom’s final episode—which aired May 14, 1998—with a 16-piece assortment of shirts, shorts, and even tailoring inspired by the iconic series’s run. Its designs call back to the plotlines of specific Seinfeld episodes as well as broader stylistic references to its characters.
Percival founder Chris Gove says that the seed of the collection was planted last year, after his brand partnered with Warner Bros. and Bravado—Universal Music Group’s brand management division—on a Batman-themed capsule. Following its success, the collaborators approached Percival about creating a Seinfeld-themed collection, which would also commemorate the 100th anniversary of Warner Bros. Studio.
“At Percival, we’re all huge fans of Seinfeld and it has been an honor to work on these pieces,” Gove tells Robb Report. “It’s been such a fun process digging into each episode and drawing inspiration for our designs and we’re delighted with how everything has come out. The collection contains a multitude of references to the show and embraces the style of Jerry, Kramer, and George Costanza across each look.”
Examples include a reversible cotton ripstop jacket with a candy stripe lining not unlike the ill-fated suede jacket that Jerry tries (and eventually fails) to protect from a snowstorm in the second season episode “The Jacket.” The Hamptons Resort Shirt and The Hamptons Resort Short, meanwhile, together form a terry cloth cabana suit and are each marked by an embroidered lobster motif referencing Kramer’s antics in the fifth season’s “The Hamptons” (naturally, the care instructions advise a cool wash cycle followed by a line-dry to avoid… shrinkage).
Also among the assortment is a short-sleeve knitted shirt inspired by the 8-ball jacket worn by hapless Elaine’s love interest Puddy (played by Patrick Warburton), and the Pop In, a Cuban-collared patterned shirt available in two colorways and inspired by serial apartment intruder (and modern-day patterned shirt patron saint) Cosmo Kramer. Either might be worn with the Kavorka houndstooth blazer or trousers, wool-blend suit separates whose relaxed fit and double-pleated front (in the case of the trousers) hearken back the look of 1990s tailoring.
Take as a whole, the Seinfeld x Percival collection is the latest indicator that a show whose on-screen dress was once considered the height of ‘90s excess is being viewed differently by a younger demographic in the 2020s. With dad sneakers a hot commodity and blousy (if not puffy) shirts appearing on runways, the landmark sitcom is increasingly referenced not just for its intricately constructed comedy but for its idiosyncratic sense of style.
“Films and TV are the main sources of visual inspiration for a younger audience, especially in the age of streaming where everything is available at your fingertips,” Gove says. “The nostalgia of a classic TV show like Seinfeld with its iconic style and fashion-forward themes cuts through in a way that other iconic shows don’t. You won’t get style Instagrams dedicated to The Office.”
With our apologies to Michael Scott, it would seem that Gove is correct; an Office equivalent to Jawnfeld has yet to emerge.
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