Weirdo helped the British fashion brand swap the usual models for “open-minded” women aged 19 to 72, found via guerrilla posters, shot in a single day and backed by new positioning and a signature colour called Lemonade.
Fashion is a beloved passion of mine. I’ve always loved dressing up. I have fond memories of Topshop and Tammy Girl in my teens, and of watching The Clothes Show every Sunday evening with my mam, while my dad disappeared upstairs to tinker on the computer.
Brands like Whistles came much later. It was always considered pricey and high-end compared to other high street stores, so we never shopped there. As soon as I started earning my own money, though, I saved every penny to get the latest cuts. I remember one pair of black trousers that I treated like a precious treasure for years, until they finally went to the charity shop, battered but well-loved.
My girlfriends share similar stories. We have emotional connections to the places we once worshipped every Saturday, returning home loaded down with shopping bags. For me, it was “going up Hanley Duck” on the No.20 bus to the Potteries shopping centre. And Whistles was one of the concessions in Debenhams. Most likely the first place I looked.
Fast forward to today, and I’ve not given it much thought in a long while. My go-to brands these days are a mix of Japanese menswear and eye-wateringly expensive garments from Studio Nicholson or Soeur. (I’ve been banned from Redchurch Street. Never let me go there. Seriously.) But hey, I justify the cost by saying it’s what helps me feel good rather than reaching for Botox like so many women my age are (I just can’t quite bring myself to do it, even though the pressure is real). Anyway, I digress.
Whistles, would you believe, turns 50 this year (gulp) and it wanted to mark the occasion. Instead of turning to models or going through its archives, it fly-posted much of London with cryptic posters asking for “open-minded women”. There was no explanation or brand mention, just a call to say what open-mindedness means to you. Remarkably, more than 2,000 people replied.
The posters were the brainchild of Weirdo, the London creative agency founded in 2021 by former pro athlete Louis Persent, which has since built a reputation for putting real people at the centre of campaigns for the likes of Arsenal, Bumble, and Snapchat. Whistles and Weirdo whittled the replies down to 50 women, aged between 19 and 72, most of whom had never modelled before. They were then photographed in a single day wearing the latest Whistles collection, set against a plain white backdrop, and each was interviewed about her life for social and film content.
Six of those women front the launch, including a BAFTA-winning documentary filmmaker, a mother and an entrepreneur. Fashion photographer Alice Neale shot them, and Archi Shah filmed them, mostly using a camcorder. The result is a two-minute film that goes out today across out-of-home, social, digital and in-store. This isn’t the glossy campaign you’d expect in The Bible (that’s Vogue to anyone who doesn’t know). More nostalgic and raw, taking me back to those beloved shopping days in Stoke.
Along with the campaign, Weirdo has also evolved the Whistles identity, now positioned as “Designed for an Open Mind”. Ah, that makes sense. And there’s a new signature citrus colour called Lemonade, plus an overall tone that’s described as “sharp and light”.
“We’re leaving behind rigid top-down campaigns and moving towards projects and commissions,” says Louis. “It’s an open approach to brand-building that’s allowed us to shoot 50 women in one day, commission a friend group to shoot a summer collection on a trip to Athens, and have a pipeline of future projects that will keep exploring what it means to be designed for an open mind.”
Speaking of the Athens shoot, it was one of a year’s worth of pilot projects where a real bunch of mates shot the summer collection on holiday. Nice to see Whistles not going down the AI route like other high street retailers might be. That authenticity will do them proud, no doubt. And give my fashion industry pals a sigh of relief.
All this was certainly needed because I’d almost forgotten about Whistles. It had felt a little tired in recent years. And the quality had dropped. Other brands came along like Cos and Uniqlo, and we women moved on. We talk, I’m afraid, and the conversation always goes like “they used to be good… try this other shop instead” (Mumsnet is brilliant for that sort of advice).
Brand loyalty is a brutal game. I can’t imagine the pressure to stay relevant and loved. And brands that lose their way can always make a comeback. Just look at Topshop. A change of hands or marketing strategy can be a good thing.
When I watched the campaign film, I got quite emotional listening to the stories. So many resonated. It frightens me to think of how long ago those teenage shopping trips were, so seeing Whistles honour women like us, and our life experiences, felt very honest. Like it’s capturing a collective mood.
Whether it brings me back through their doors (or onto their website), the jury’s out. But it’s a clever reminder of something we once loved, and that it might be worth visiting again.
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