The 10 Raddest Stüssy Ad Campaigns

A history of vision.

"Ron is an OG to Stüssy. The Southern California product has been down since the earliest days of the brand. Ron got started in photography in the seventies and went from student to teacher to commercial photographer and during that journey where he crossed paths with Shawn Stüssy. It all started when Ron and his wife, Michele, produced an ad for Newport Surf and Sport that featured some pieces from Stüssy and when Shawn came across it, Ron was asked to do his thing on some ads. This was back in 1983 and from that point on, the two worked together for a period of three years amassing a large collection of photographs hallmarked by the globally recognized grainy black and white aesthetic Stüssy is known for. To this day, Ron is still a good friend with Stüssy. We recently worked with him, along with art director Tom Adler, on a photo shoot for our Stüssy Deluxe Reyn Spooner collection."

"Shawn is a man in possession of numerous talents. One of those in particular was his ability to combine his remarkable graphic ability with his unique taste in humor. Shawn always had his eye out for obscure imagery and when he came across something he liked, he would make his own mark on the photographs with either a hip-hop phrase or just a musing jotted down in his iconic handwriting. These images still resonate to this day and have become a foundational icon in the Stüssy graphic language."

"David is the son of Christian missionaries who spent a portion of his life in Calcutta, India, and later in Southern California. In addition to spending time in India, the Dobson’s missionary trips landed them in some of the world’s most exotic places including Kenya, Egypt, and Sri Lanka, where David was exposed to various rich cultural tapestries that went on to influence his work. As a fan of Stüssy, David reached out to us for a box of tees to take along on a missionary trip just to see what he could come up with and we were all pleasantly surprised by what the photographer was able to produce. His unique ability to connect and communicate with the diverse cultures enabled him to capture a plethora of special moments that could never be staged. Although that was some time ago, David will always be important to the Stüssy Tribe."

"During this period of time, Paul Mittleman stepped into the role of Creative Director for us and it was during that time when he proposed the idea of working with Juergen Teller on a World Tour campaign beginning in fall of 1999 in London. We had been watching Juergen emerge through his early work with Id and The Face Magazine and felt he would be a natural fit for Stüssy. We met Teller through mutual friends and ended up becoming one his first commercial jobs after he returned from the production of his book GO SEES. After the series launch shot in London for Fall 1999, we went on to New York in Spring 2000, Tokyo for Fall 2000, and then to Los Angeles for Spring 2001. Juergen approached the shoot with a simple point and shoot camera in each hand and he was able to do an amazing job of capturing kids within their culture and local environment. He’s a very involved photographer who does not rely on a lot of post-production or retouching making for a very raw all around look."

"Terry pretty much does not need an introduction. This guy has become one of the world's most in-demand photographers around today, be it capturing images of music and fashion icons all the way up to the President, he’s that guy. We met Terry through some mutual friends in London and New York. We asked him to come on to help us snap some images of edgy youth drawing on inspiration from kids in garage bands. The end result was a memorable shoot celebrating a raw and youthful spirit."

"The late Larry Sultan was great to work with. He was another great suggestion from Paul. Paul had known of Larry’s work in an artistic light and not so much as a fashion photographer. Larry was a well-respected fine art photographer during the stage in which we worked with him. He exhibited such an incredible dedication to the job; his work ethic was unparalleled to a point where it felt more like being on a movie set. His obsession with lighting and mood led to an incredible set of photos. Paul and Larry conceptualized the shoot involving kids just hanging out doing what they do naturally and capturing captivating moments."

"It was our friend and partner in the UK, Michael Kopelman who came up with the idea of working with Laurence Passera. The two became acquainted through Laurence’s work with Dazed and Confused Magazine. For this particular project with us, Laurence worked alongside the one and only Nicola Formichetti who took on styling duties and Tomo Jidai working hair. Given free reign creatively, Passera and company worked on the shoot for a period of 6 months. Each photo was conceptualized and shot individually and his diligence is evident throughout. The end result was a series of visually striking photos that only Laurence could pull off."

"Robbie was a part of our crew of employees back in the early 90’s. He started with us as a teen and went on to do other things for a bit before returning to Stüssy in early 2000. He had a connection to the skate world and during his second stint with us, he helped to create a Stüssy Skate team. We wanted to have some thorough and soulful documentation of the team and Robbie was down to do it. Robbie was mentored by one of the best in the skateboard photography game, Atiba Jefferson. Back then, everything was still film, so Robbie was able to produce that grainy black and white look that only film can create. On his first day shooting, he captured images of team rider Richard Mulder and the look was raw and natural."

"Phil Knott caught our attention with his unique ability to infuse his photographs with cut and paste art. His collage images create a very layered look that we were feeling, so we tapped the British-bred photographer to do his thing for us. His unique approach to our campaign resulted in a very eye-catching one. Phil combined distinct lifestyle photography captured through his eyes, mixed in with a myriad of Stüssy iconography making for one memorable campaign."

"Kenneth was another recommendation from Paul Mittleman after the two had become acquainted with each other while Cappello was working and living in lower Manhattan. His portraits of Pit Bulls and his work in Mass Appeal magazine took Paul and it was in 2005 when we asked him to shoot a campaign. Kenneth’s understanding of street culture rooted in his beginnings shooting his friends skateboarding made him a natural fit for us and since his initial work for Stüssy he has become our mainstay photographer. Kenneth’s body of work includes some of the biggest names in fashion and music, as well as working with various publications including Sneeze Magazine and others. Kenneth was also one of our selected photographers for our Ricoh x Stüssy 30th anniversary project."