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Designers Maya Reynolds and Michel Berandi created MB999 in the fall/winter of 2009 with the hope of producing garments that were mid-priced and accessible. Their main goal was to design affordable menswear for the contemporary market. After the first season, Michel Berandi decided that his interests lay outside of the contemporary market and Maya Reynolds took over the line, overseeing all design, development and production.

The architecturally thoughtful menswear label recently released its spring/summer collection, which celebrity photographer Glenn Campbell and film director Jason Matzner collaborated on and produced a short film (Anthropoda); further expressing the collections concept.

“Arthropoda, was to depict an axis, a transitory phase between ancient and modern.” said Reynolds  “Aesthetically, I envisioned the clothes functioning as exoskeletons of insects.  My vision of Man…a praying mantis ready to strike, commanding yet tranquil, maintaining the balance, the choreography of life.”

The designer finds inspiration near and far, in “man-made and natural worlds”and the ever inescapable “Fibonacci sequence”.

Here is what film director Jason Matzner had to say about the project:

I’ve always loved fashion, so I jumped at the opportunity to work in the newly-emerging field of fashion videos with the new video for MB999’s Arthropoda collection.  Fashion videos are an exciting form, blending editorial still photography with music video techniques.

Designer Maya Reynolds was inspired by insect and crustacean exoskeletons for many of the shapes within the collection.  I latched onto this immediately as the central theme for the video.  This became our guiding aesthetic – from the graphics to the choppy, insect-like editing rhythms to the movements of the model.  We developed the catch phrase “walk like a bug” as the primary direction, and exceptionally talented model William Chan captured that idea immediately.

Maya Reynolds’ designs are highly textural, from the organic forms to the artisans feel of the leather and knit materials.  We expanded this same aesthetic across the video.

Photographer Glenn Campbell and I have had a long history of collaboration on still photography projects. Glenn has always made beautiful light in his photographic work.  It was exciting for both of us to adapt some of his signature lighting techniques to the “hot” tungsten lights we used for the shoot.  Glenn also threw himself into the production of the video, to the point of personally staying up all night painting thousands of feet of warehouse with a giant industrial paint gun while fending off aggressive homeless squatters.

There was also an exciting technological element to the shoot.  Our small but extremely high-resolution cameras and powerful software enabled us to do the shoot with just a minuscule crew, whereas only a few years ago the same project would have required a much more extensive production machine.  This gave the project an immediacy and intimacy that was very satisfying.

MB999 is available at high-end specialty retailers across the United States, Canada, Spain and Japan.  Exclusive Spring/Summer 2011 drops include: Bonnie&Clyde’s, Isetan, Oak, & Fred Segal.