LIVES OF THE SAINTS

words WAHEEDA HARRIS shutter COURTESY of MELTIN' POT

Celebrating 10 years of creating collections, Italian casual clothing company Meltin’ Pot has expanded its wings and gone Hollywood. Linking up with Dazed Film & TV and Britain’s FilmFour, Meltin’ Pot creative director and Brit photog Rankin has directed his first feature film.  With a budget of 500,000 British pounds, Lives of the Saints went into production this past May with a script by Tony Grisoni (In This World, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas), after the initial call for submissions in December 2004 by Dazed Film & TV, the production wing of Dazed & Confused magazine. The film was co-directed by Rankin’s long time collaborator Chris Cottam, and is currently in post-production. The film is a humorous dark morality tale set in modern-day north London, starring newcomers David Leon and Sam MacLintock.

Rankin, co-founding publisher of Dazed & Confused, has combined his past and present with this project and hopes to expand the definition of branding and labels. In a recent interview with bread&butter.com, Rankin said “The mistake many people make is not to respect the brand, not to respect these values. What we really did was to look at the product, the personality behind the brand. Looking at Meltin’ Pot as a concept: this coming together of different cultures, different styles, different influences, which we’ll follow through in all of the advertising. Interpreting the brand is what we mean by branding.”

With record growth in its back pocket, Meltin’ Pot will be opening offices in London and Los Angeles by the end of 2005, adding to existing offices in Paris, New York, Munich and Milan. Meltin’ Pot’s fall/winter collection of denim and casual wear, featuring parkas, chinos, knitwear, tailored jackets and shirts as well as jeans for men and women, is a relaxed version of “tidy ‘n’ proper with a dash of New England and indie rock.”

Rankin’s recent projects include campaigns for Elle MacPherson Intimates, Guinness Beer, Dove’s Campaign for Beauty and was chosen as one of the 10 photographers to photograph Queen Elizabeth II for her Golden Jubilee. With books, photography exhibitions and now a feature film under his belt, Rankin and Meltin’ Pot are working on Lives of the Saints’ inclusion in notable film festivals for 2006.