Moving at the Speed of Culture

Culture moves fast. A new sound, a viral look, a design aesthetic, a social shift, and before you know it, the conversation has moved on. Brands, meanwhile, work within budgets, approvals, and carefully planned calendars. After all, culture is human. It comes from real people in real moments, not decks or deadlines. We find out how tapping into culture can lead to growth, sometimes in unexpected areas.

When Culture Chooses the Brand

Clarks, the UK-based footwear brand, is a perfect example of culture choosing a brand through its long-standing relationship with Jamaica. It didn’t come from a campaign. It happened because people made it theirs.

Popcaan collaborated with Clarks Originals on a fresh reinterpretation of the Wallabee Boot. Source: Clarks Originals.

In the 1970s and 80s, Clarks shoes, the Desert Boot and Wallabee, became icons on the Caribbean island. They weren’t marketed there. In fact, they were expensive imports. Yet Jamaican youth adopted them as symbols of aspiration and attitude. Artists like Vybz Kartel and Popcaan later immortalised the shoes in song. Clarks has since celebrated this organic adoption, more recently featuring artists such as Koffee, Protoje and Lila Iké in seasonal campaigns to further cement its place in Jamaica’s cultural identity.

In the 1990s, Tommy Hilfiger went from a clean-cut, preppy fashion label to an unexpected Hip-hop staple thanks to artists who embraced the brand and made it their own. The turning point came when Snoop Dogg wore a Tommy Hilfiger rugby shirt on ‘Saturday Night Live’ in 1994, causing it to sell out overnight. From there, figures like Aaliyah, Wu-Tang Clan and Coolio turned the brand’s bold colours and oversized fits into essential pieces of the decade’s street style.

Seeing the movement take off, Hilfiger introduced baggier fits, sponsored tours and brought artists onto runways. What started as an organic connection became one of the first major fusions of street style, music and high fashion, redefining how brands and artists collaborate.

The takeaway? Culture doesn’t wait for permission. It absorbs what feels right and repurposes it with meaning.

From Outlaw to Ad Agency Moodboard

Fashion isn’t the only cultural language that gets absorbed and repackaged. Graffiti follows a similar pattern, born in community, misunderstood by the mainstream, and eventually repurposed once the world decides it’s ‘cool’. Graffiti tells another part of this story of how a rebellious act turned into a style language.

Once seen as a criminal act and labelled as vandalism, graffiti has evolved into an accepted art form and lucrative creative direction for campaigns and collaborations. It has been used as a vehicle for brands to align themselves with youth culture, rebellion, and counterculture, making luxury or corporate brands feel more relatable, modern and have a little bit of “edge”. Artists such as KAWS, a leading figure in the field, has worked with Uniqlo on multiple sell-out collections, Dior on high-fashion pieces, and Hennessy on limited-edition collector bottles.

Renowned artist, KAWS, has teamed up with Uniqlo on several sell-out capsule collections. Source: U niqlo.

Sadly, too often, brands replicate a trend without acknowledging the culture that inspired it.

Today’s audiences value honesty and authenticity. If brands forget where this art comes from, they risk losing the very credibility and connection that made it cool to begin with.

Why Brands Struggle to Keep Pace

The truth is that brands often move slowly because they’re designed to avoid risk.

They need proof before participation. Culture, on the other hand, thrives on experimentation. It’s made of people trying things, failing, remixing, and evolving. It doesn’t have to answer to quarterly goals.

By the time data shows a trend’s value, the trend’s already dead in the culture that created it. That’s why brands constantly feel one step behind. The irony is the most influential brands, Nike is a good example, don’t chase cultural moments. They earn credibility over time by showing up consistently.

Finding the Balance

For me, the job isn’t to make the brand “cool.” It’s to make it culturally fluent. That means understanding not just what’s popular, but why it matters, and where it came from. It means partnering with communities, not treating them like an audience to ‘target’.

Culture doesn’t wait for brands. The best ones don’t try to control it or pretend to lead it, they tune in, show respect, and move with.

Final thought

Culture moves faster than brands because it’s driven by people, through curiosity, creativity, and community. Brands, on the other hand, run on systems, approvals, and plans. The examples here show the difference between borrowing an aesthetic and understanding what it means. The brands that win long-term are the ones that respect the roots, add genuine value, and build trust rather than chasing the next moment.

If you’re ready to sharpen your brand’s cultural fluency – from positioning to content and campaigns – we can help. Speak to our Creative Director, Lewis, or reach out to one of the team.