Coming Soon: Duckie Brown: The Book/2024
Before COVID, we had the idea to create a book celebrating Duckie Brown's 20th anniversary. We started, but quickly stopped because of $$$. Now, here we are four years later...for our 24th anniversary
As we found out right from the start, putting together a hardbound coffee table book is a very expensive project. Between gathering images from photographers we’ve worked with over the years and getting them scanned, we were already deep into our funds from the go. We are done with the pony show at this stage in our lives, so we didn’t want to partner with a publisher to produce. As with most things, we didn’t want to be beholden to anyone. Plus, we knew the exact book we wanted and how we wanted it. So, back then, we just stopped. The project was dead. Finito.
Then, this past Christmas, I was talking with Tim. He knew about our desire to create a book since I had asked him to write the intro. When he asked how the book was coming along, I moaned and groaned about how the project was DOA and was so expensive to produce. He scolded me and said, “You must do the book. It’s a testament to your work and everything you’ve accomplished against all odds….”
When I got off the phone, I turned to Duckie and said, “Duckie, we’re doing the book.” And so, we began….again….four years later.
The first thing we did was think about our favorite images from the past. We made a list of all the photographers we’ve worked with and admired over the years and asked them for their catalog of Duckie Brown images. They sent us hundreds of images from 2001 onwards. We wanted to include backstage shots from shows, candid shots of models, of ourselves, moments in the studio, past campaigns, but no runway shots. We never discussed why we avoided runway images — we both just knew to. I think it’s because those shots are always too straightforward and uninteresting. They tend to be bog-standard, boring, repetitive, and used by everyone. Runway shots serve a very specific purpose: to document what you’re doing and for other designers to be “inspired” by the work later on. What’s happening behind the curtain is always more interesting, and those images are personal and beautiful.
Once we had all the images, we went through them and narrowed it down to about 800 photographs we loved. We printed all 800 out and spread them all over the studio.
You’ve heard us mention Paul before, but he has worked with us for the entire life of Duckie Brown. He’s handsome, has impeccable taste, is very particular, and has the perfect aesthetic for us, which is just one thing—the New Order Substance 1987 white-and-black album cover. That cover has essentially inspired every single invitation and graphic related to Duckie Brown, and thanks to his help, that influence is fully echoed in The Book (see below).
Duckie, Paul, and I stood over the 800 images scattered about for an hour and a half, thinking, “Ok. What now?” It felt so daunting. “What’s Page #1 going to be?” Getting started was incredibly difficult. We were paralyzed with indecision. It was awkward, and there was definitely tension in the room. For those 90 minutes, none of us were willing to make the first move. Finally, Daniel (as he often does) decided that he was going to put together the first 25 pages of the book.
I treated it like programming a runway show — what opens?
Looking at what he did, I thought, “This is awful.” So, I literally grabbed my roll of masking tape and just went for it….and then, we were just doing it. We found our rhythm, and the photos started grouping together, flowing from one story and page to the next. It was quick. I think it took us two days to put it all together.
Paul kept insisting that we needed more written content because he wanted to layer text over the images. That’s when we thought of using Steven’s sketchbooks. We pulled a lot of written words from his sketchbooks while I contributed a few paragraphs of memories from the past 24 years.
We also started thinking about who, besides Tim, we wanted to include—whose voice we wanted to hear. Initially, we thought it would be great to have José from Vogue interview us, similar to how Cher and Madonna interviewed each other for Warhol’s Interview magazine. For a while, we thought that would be enough— just two more voices reflecting on us. But then we ran into a writer friend who knew about the book, and he asked who else was contributing. I could tell he was upset that we hadn’t asked him. So, that evening, we went home and reconsidered. We ended up reaching out to a number of fashion writers, critics, and poet friends to share their thoughts on Duckie Brown. And we are so glad that we did.
It took us ten months from when we restarted to feel like we finally had The Book. We found a printer in Belgium, die Keure Printing. They do all the fashion books and were fantastic to work with. Despite being so far away, they got the books to us right on time. It’s a rare edition of just 300 copies. We’re officially launching them next month, but you can pre-order directly from us for a special price of $195. Just email or DM us on Instagram.
This is an incredible moment for both of us. To have accomplished something like Duckie Brown: The Book/2024 after we had given up is really fantastic and sobering. Neither of us can quite believe it—we have The Book. We’re standing in a place we never imagined, a place we never thought possible. Dreams do come true—not always, but sometimes. It’s like they say, “If you want something different, you have to do something different.”
xoxoxo
The Duckies