Sterling K. Brown certainly wears tailored clothing well.
So it makes sense that Todd Snyder would tap the award-winning actor to be the face of his summer collection.
Brown, who has a mantel full of Emmy, Screen Actors Guild and Golden Globe awards and who was nominated for an Academy Award this year for his role in “American Fiction,” will be the cover model on Snyder’s newest catalog, dropping Tuesday, and will also be featured in digital and out-of-home ads for the designer.
“Sterling is not only an incredible actor whose body of work speaks for itself, but has an easygoing charm that made him a natural choice for giving a masterclass in our summer collection,” said Snyder. “He understands that good style can be attainable and even playful, and our collection is loaded with looks that are relaxed in their proportions and textures, yet still have a luxurious elegance that achieves just that.”
Snyder said that he has worked with the actor Matt Bomer twice in the past, and the response has been “great,” so he was open to collaborating with another actor. “I always like working with celebrities and it helps build our brand awareness to have someone that everybody knows,” he said.
Brown was shot by Matthew Brookes at The Sheats-Goldstein Residence in Los Angeles wearing statement pieces from the summer collection, including the Wythe Suit, the Striped Cabana Shirt, the Italian Suede Cargo Suit and the Luxe Mesh Tank.
Snyder said that photographing actors rather than models results in a different final product and, in the case of Brown, it turned into a “great, distinguished moment,” he said.
Snyder said that Brown had been on his wish list for a while and because the summer collection is so heavily based in oversize and loose tailoring pieces, this campaign was the ideal fit for him. “We’re always looking for the right face or character for the mood of the collection and he wears tailoring so well, is masculine, good looking and fit,” Snyder said.
In addition to the fashion shoot, the catalog features a question-and-answer feature with Brown, titled “Sterling’s Time to Shine.” The three-page feature addresses why he gave up a potential career in economics and finance at Stanford University to pursue acting — “I noticed whenever I was in a play, I got better grades all around. So I talked about it with my mother and she was nothing but supportive. I prayed on it, and I eventually switched from being an econ major to a drama major,” he said — and how he tore his ACL during New York’s Shakespeare in the Park production of “Twelfth Night.” But the injury didn’t slow him down and he continued to build his career on Broadway, in television and films.
He received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor this year for his work in “American Fiction,” and next up is the Netflix film “Atlas” before he reconnects with the creator of “This Is Us” for a new series, “Paradise City,” that he is also producing.
Turning to his personal style, Brown described it in the article as “California chic, the kind of looks where, if you’re playing with your kids and then going to a dinner meeting, you would look good.”
Snyder said that while nothing has been decided, he suspects he will work with Brown again in the future. “We have a tendency to revisit things,” he said. “We look at these things not as one-and-done, but as relationships.” He said he has dressed Brown for a couple of red carpet appearances and since he opened his store in The Grove in Los Angeles, he’s getting a lot more requests from celebrities to dress them. In a few weeks, another store will open on Abbot Kinney in L.A., further expanding his presence there.
“L.A. has always been our second biggest market [after New York], and that world is becoming more important to us,” Snyder said.
