Few things define the here and now like hip-hop. It has always defined cool, from slang to personal style. Sprite’s ties to hip-hop have existed since the 1980s, putting the culture and its stars in living rooms all over the world through their commercials. No other soft drink took that leap quite like Sprite did, who made sure to handle the genre with care while highlighting hip-hop’s best and brightest.
This year Sprite is pulling out all the stops to celebrate hip-hop’s 50th anniversary. There's a star-studded campaign featuring Nas, Rakim, Latto and Glorilla remixing hip-hop's first major hit, Sugarhill Gang’s “Rapper's Delight"; a new thirst-quenching limited-edition flavor – Sprite Lymonade Legacy; and a "Summer of Drops'' offering access to exclusive merch, meet-and-greets, and event experiences. The brand is also the official beverage sponsor for one of the summer's most highly-anticipated tours, Drake's "It's All A Blur."
For the monumental anniversary, Sprite teamed up with incredible fashion talents who have gained notoriety in the hip hop space. Jeff Hamilton, Coco and Breezy, and Bricks & Wood have been tapped to create fly articles of clothing with a lemon-lime twist. Jeff Hamilton, the world-renowned Moroccan designer who got his start in American fashion and has created some of the most memorable leather jackets of all time, tied his craftsmanship, Sprite’s iconic colors, and hip-hop together. Coco and Breezy, the twin sister design and DJ duo, took one of their trademark sunglass frames and breathed new life into them. Bricks & Wood, the California-to-the-world streetwear brand helmed by Kacey Lynch, has created clothes that show off both their appreciation for hip-hop and Sprite’s place within it.
All three of these brands encapsulate the expertise to bring hip-hop’s 50th birthday to the forefront through fashion. Complex talked to members of these brands about their creative process, hip-hop’s impression on them, and more.
Coco and Breezy
Some people fully commit to their gift. In 2009 Corianna and Brianna Dotson, better known as Coco and Breezy, left Minnesota at 19 years old for New York and, in just a few short years, took the eyewear world by storm. “I think the biggest thing of growing up in a place where there wasn't a lot of inspiration is that it gave us a space to use our imaginations,” Coco shares. “Even though people didn't understand it, we were never afraid to just try new things.” That freedom to be themselves is why the duo blossomed in both eyewear and DJing/producing.
Coco and Breezy’s road to success was paved with the support of a who’s who of early 2010s celebrities. “When we were 19, we quit our job, sold our car, and we moved to New York with less than a thousand dollars to start our company,” Breezy says. “[We] didn't have a job set up at all; all we had was a dream and our friends on MySpace.” Almost immediately they had some of music and entertainment’s future legends in their sunglasses. Coco and Breezy’s creative growth, plus love and respect for hip-hop, landed them squarely on Sprite’s short list for their merch celebrating hip-hop’s 50th anniversary.
Ever confident, Coco and Breezy entered into their partnership with Sprite, aiming to combine both brands in a fly way. “I pray before I create anything. Whether it's music or eyewear, I just ask for our ancestors that guide us,” Breezy explained. The sisters also found a solution to the usual three-month time frame for producing eyewear. “For the Sprite collaboration, instead of creating a whole new frame, we have one pair of our signature Amazonian frames,” Coco says. “The inspiration was 50 years of hip-hop, and when we designed those glasses, it was very inspired by that era, an oversized square frame that's unisex.” She then shares the unique twist that represents Sprite: “We're gonna be adding Sprite green lenses to our Amazonian frames, and we’re also gonna do a really cool custom packaging that has Sprite logos and Coco and Breezy logos.” Sounds fresh—a perfect encapsulation of both Sprite and Coco and Breezy.
Even with their ongoing success, Coco and Breezy are continuing to strive for more. In addition to an upcoming brick and mortar Coco and Breezy store in Los Angeles and a DJ world tour, the twins have some new eyewear coming soon. “We're working on an affordable collection, because we know that we have a customer that can't necessarily afford our $225 pair of glasses,” Coco told Complex. We're making a $99 price point, super capsule collection, a Coco frame and the Breezy frame.” Coco and Breezy always keep the customer in mind, all while being true to themselves.
Jeff Hamilton
Growing from a young child in Morocco with a love for American style into a fashion icon, Jeff Hamilton is an inspiration to many. His style of leather jacket, which combines vibrant colors with attention-grabbing lettering and logo work, is timeless, making him a no-brainer choice for Sprite’s campaign. All-time greats in the world of sports, music, and entertainment have donned Hamilton’s customized jackets, and he is one of the most sought-after designers, year after year.
For most people, their youthful interests are distant memories; Jeff Hamilton’s changed his life. He moved to France at 10 years old, already in love with basketball, with a developing taste for fashion. By the time he was 19, Hamilton drew inspiration from all things Americana, whether it be sweatshirts, sunglasses, or denim. This passion led to him taking the license to a beloved American men’s fashion line in 1983, where he quickly found success as lead designer.
“I never put myself as a designer because I never really tried to be mainstream,” Jeff explains. “I became a designer once I took the license; I had people that were doing the design. I was not comfortable with the direction.” Using his eye for style, he turned the brand into a household name. In 1986 he set out to make his own eponymous line. The focus was leather jackets early on, and after building relationships with celebrities, his work began to take off. “I want people to feel that when they wear a piece of clothing, I'm the brand. There is my DNA associated with it, so I'm backing my brand.”
Jeff’s confidence and unshakable belief in his vision are parallel to hip-hop’s history. “I remember when I moved to America—I remember some kids in the street with a huge boombox,” he recollects. Hamilton bought it from the kid and took it home, much to his wife’s confusion. “Every weekend I would go to Venice and [watch] people roller skating and listen to [hip-hop].” Those early memories guided Hamilton’s design process for these exclusive Sprite pieces. “If I have a project such as Sprite, it's such an iconic brand, the association with hip-hop,” Hamilton states. “It has to look [like] a varsity jacket.” “In the ‘80s the big colors that we were using, when hip-hop started, was all the African colors.” The jacket will also incorporate Sprite logos and his hand-painted art that commemorates hip-hop’s beginnings.
Jeff Hamilton’s schedule is packed, due to his long-spanning reputation for excellence. In addition to more design work and collaborations with some huge brands, Hamilton has a star -studded documentary about his life on the way. “To be able to tell my story and to have a lot of the most iconic celebrities put me in my place in the culture, it’s a very rewarding moment in my life,” he says humbly. At the helm of a 40-year fashion career, Jeff Hamilton’s longevity shows that his work is truly timeless.
Bricks & Wood
Streetwear is inspired by hip-hop’s past, while also taking the genre all over the world. Few brands pay that reverence as well as Bricks & Wood, the South Central, Calif. clothing company founded by Kacey Lynch. Founded in 2014, the brand’s design is a perfect throughline between vintage and modern, with its muted colors serving as a backdrop for their distinctive font and stylized logos. Bricks & Wood has gone global, as it’s one of the more popular streetwear lines that has evolved from clothing to a cultural touchpoint.
Starting in 2020, Curtis Taylor Jr. joined the Bricks & Wood team. A close friend of Lynch who once sold the brand in his store, Taylor became the company’s global brand manager, tasked with taking Bricks & Wood to new heights while keeping its community-based heart and soul intact. “A lot of times when you have a business you can scale it, but at a certain point it starts to get watered down and it doesn't have that integrity,” Taylor shared. “My job is to safeguard that and to align us with other brands who are doing the same.“ When asked to describe what Bricks & Wood is, Taylor paints with a broad brush. “We've really focused and sort of honed in on, what is the life that we want to live and how can this brand help afford that? Right now Bricks & Wood is a prompt; it's open-ended.”
From a creative standpoint, Bricks & Wood draws from the world at large, much like Sprite does.
“Our inspiration is culture, shape, travel,” he shares. Taylor continues on: “When it comes to different textiles and mechanics, how do we infuse that into a brand that has been so South Central focused?” Meshing that kind of vision with Sprite is a natural fit, as Taylor explains. “I think that it's important to align with people who really get you; with Sprite, it was exciting for us ‘cause it was so nostalgic.”
Taylor reminisces on the old days, even touching on his personal memories of Sprite. “The campaigns back in the day used to be the ones to watch; even in college Sprite had the Sprite Step Off. They've just always been culturally aware. To merge that with hip-hop music is such a huge inspiration for us as a brand.” Tight-lipped about what Bricks & Wood has in store for their collaboration with Sprite, Taylor describes the “wearable garments” that are on the way. “[It] has a lot of homage, that grit, that raw sort of feel that Sprite used to have; it just jumped off the screen.” Motivated by a love for both hip-hop and the impact it’s had on the world, Bricks & Wood fully poured themselves into this collection. “How do we showcase the gravity of hip-hop? How do we make hip-hop feel as big and as gigantic as it is?” Proud to represent the genre he grew up on, Curtis Taylor Jr. is more than ready to rise to the occasion.
Sprite has always known how to identify talent and natural cool. By teaming up with Jeff Hamilton, Coco and Breezy, and Bricks & Wood, Sprite’s high level of taste shines on while giving hip-hop the credit it deserves on its 50th anniversary.
