It Was a Dark & Stormy Branding Opportunity

L.L.Bean

has climbed atahdin, fly-fished the Allagash, and camped out in Acadia. Now a spry 9 years old, the Freeport retailer is trekking a new terrain ollywoodland. But what guerilla force could possibly seduce filmmakers, wardrobe designers, and celebrities into dreaming about durable goods lined with 200-gram Thinsulate? ”We pursue media coverage through seasonal previews with editors in NYC, provide press kits,” says Mary Rose Mac innon, L.L.Bean’s public relations manager. “We’ve been in Lucky, InStyle, and Good ousekeeping, ust to name a few. L.L.Bean products convey authentic Americana.” happy to give them a ringing endorsement.” If the fashion maven herself is carrying it, you know the cameras are flashing.

Then there’s L.L.Bean’s understated presence in films. “Taking Woodstock, The Spider wick Chronicles, The Loneliest Planet, The River Why, and ternal Sunshine o the Spotless Mind are a few of the films that sought us out,” Mac innon says. “Also the television shows addy s Girls, Ca ping with the In Laws,” and the series famous for making the world truly McDreamy courtesy of Harpswell’s resident star Patrick Dempsey.

“We love L.L.Bean,” says Mimi Melgaard, the costume designer for Grey s nato y. “[The character] ‘Meredith’ carries a bag in almost every episode. ‘Joe,’ the bartender, always has an L.L.Bean T-shirt on. I like that

Above: Michael Macko takes one of his dozens of Boat and Totes out on the town. L.L. Bean plays a supporting role in Taking Woodstock, Ang Lee’s recreation of the watershed 1969 music festival. Boat and Tote bags are also the bag of choice at the Tribeca Film Festival.

Whenever I’m on location, everyone immediately thinks that severe weather is brewing in the area, and they get paranoid,” notes Jim Cantore, on-camera meteorologist for the Weather Channel, and if the guy known for reporting in severe weather is wearing L.L.Bean as all Weather Channel on-air personalities do , you can trust its uality.

Even the ‘Devil’ has been spotted carrying Bean’s Boat and Tote bag. E plains ogue maga ine communications director Patrick O’Connell of his celebrated editor [on whom Meryl Streep’s character in The evil Wears Prada is partly based], “Anna Wintour is one of L.L.Bean’s loyal customers. She is only too they have a comfortable, outdoorsy-yet-approachable feel that’s almost classic American. L.L.Bean has something for everyone, and I think people find that on camera and off.”

Gia Clark, costume department assistant for the upcoming independent film The Loneliest Planet, reveals, “It’s a story that takes place over a couple of days about a couple backpacking in the mountains. As they’re going to be wearing the same clothes [throughout], we had to make sure what we chose for wardrobe successfully portrayed the characters. We needed something that looked ti eless, which is why we decided to go with L.L.Bean. We like the way L.L.Bean products convey a certain simplicity and down-to-earth uality.”

And what drew director Ang Lee to L.L.Bean for his 2009 summer release Taking Woodstock? “L.L.Bean was the first brand to come to mind when I thought of the outdoors, and it was around at the time the film was set in,” says Emily Gannett, who handled the product placement for the film. She adds, “I have one of their canvas totes, and I get the catalog all the time.”

Joshua issi and Travis Gumbs run streeteti uette.com, a blog situated “where a rebirth of style meets the street.” These two New Yorkers recently featured the Norwegian Sweater $129 for its “traditional prep intertwined with an urbanes ue touch.” issi writes, “The brand L.L.Bean is no stranger to our site here.”

Another fashion blogger, Michael Williams of acontinuouslean.com, features

L.L.Bean regularly in his posts and has the brand included on The erican List. Regarding this list, he writes, “There are many Made in the S lists throughout the internet, nearly all of them tacky and in poor taste. These awful websites have led me to compile a list of stylish and cool brands that make their goods in America.” With a readership of over 00,000 a month, Williams’s blog can’t be hurting the Bean bu .

And where did Maguire get his tote? It was probably part of a celebrity gift bag from an event like the Nickelodeon ids Choice Awards, the Tribeca Film Festival, or the ACE Eddie Awards. Just another way Bean gets its name out there, and it seems to be working Sarah Jessica Parker, Julia Roberts, Michael Macko, and Bobbi Brown are ust a few of the many other celebrities who

emote with the iconic Boat and Tote. “It’s sort of become my signature item,” says Macko, who has held fashion directorships at Saks Fifth Avenue and etails maga ine and has “probably two do en” of the Boat and Totes. “I think [the brand] looks perfect sitting front row at a fashion show or on the streets of rainy Paris. There’s no more uintessential American brand than L.L.Bean. I can’t imagine not wearing it.”

Maybe it’s because ‘everybody knows L.L.Bean,’ as enthusiasts invariably say.

Jason Oliver Ni on, elta Sky maga ine’s global lifestyle editor, outdoes even Macko. “I have Boat and Tote bags and pairs of shearling-lined boots. I’m obsessed.” With editorial direction credentials at Gotha , a ptons, and Los ngeles Con idential, Ni -

on e plains, “The brand is a classic American icon. It never goes out of style. I carry my Boat and Tote while wearing a sport coat in Milan or a suit in Paris I really can’t think of a more timeless American brand. It’s ine pensive but looks like a million bucks.”

With all the Boat and Tote celebrity sightings and embedded brand-name awareness, it seems Bean is cresting the hills of Hollywoodland, and beyond. Why carp if not all of the burgeoning client base appreciates the importance of the “200-gram Thinsulate Insulation polyester” aspect in the lining of a boot? L.L.Bean is creating a bu beyond Maine that the world now considers inseparable from the American vein. ■

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