Caïd, La Casa de Papel: when PXP dresses your favorite series!
Summary
For several years now, especially with the arrival of Netflix, the street has become passionate about series, particularly action series inspired by the urban universe, such as Caïd, Validé, or Casa De Papel. Your brand Project X Paris could not miss out on this phenomenon: a look back at some very successful collaborations.
With the arrival of Netflix, a pioneer in the field of content platforms with vast libraries, the series has become an art form that quickly democratized, taking a place in our lives that no one could have imagined 15 years ago, when we had to wait until Friday night to watch the episode of our soap opera on a terrestrial channel. Thanks to the internet and Netflix, hundreds of series are available in full with just a few clicks. The number of produced series has therefore exploded, and directors have started to focus on the street, the urban universe, and everything related to urban culture. Casa De Papel, then later the series Caïd and Validé: the street has made its way to the screen, and it is Project X Paris that dresses the most streetwise Netflix series!
Casa De Papel: the pioneers
We obviously couldn’t miss this huge success, for several reasons. First, because the impact of this series was monstrous, with its rebellious spirit displayed, outside the codes, which resonated a lot with younger generations. The series even managed to bring back the cult song “Bella Ciao,” the Italian resistance anthem, and turn it into an international hit again, covered by dozens of artists, notably in France by Gims or Dadju (artists who also collaborated with the streetwear brand Project X Paris). It is obviously the innovative aspect of the storyline that attracted many people: a group of not very homogeneous anti-heroes (with city names) tries to rob the mint in Spain, that’s the pitch of season 1. Helped by The Professor, the mastermind of the group, the robbers have to take all the employees hostage for long days, while preventing the police from intervening, to carry out “the heist of the century.” That’s the introduction.
If Casa De Papel managed to seduce, it is also thanks to its highly worked graphic and aesthetic aspect, which is why Project X Paris decided to collaborate with this series. If you see photos of people wearing red tracksuit sets, with a hoodie, that’s where their inspiration comes from. These “uniforms” have an unusual design, but simple and devilishly effective to impose their mark and style by making an impression. This is exactly the spirit we seek at Project X Paris, this extravagant and bold side, perfectly embodied by Denver, or Jaime Lorente by his real name. The handsome fighter of the series, whose charm makes one of the hostages fall for him in the first season, collaborated with PXP and we can say that the black Project X Paris signature hoodie with the embroidered logo suits him perfectly.
Validé x Project X Paris: a full success
We have to talk about another very, very big success series, and French to boot. Obviously, it is “Validé,” the series directed by the inevitable Franck Gastambide, which tells the story of a young rapper who wants to make it, but faces huge obstacles, in his neighborhood or in the industry. The work benefited from a release during the first lockdown to achieve great success, with the best numbers ever recorded by Canal +, over 20 million views. Obviously, this series has become a must-see for those interested in rap and urban culture in general, as it is soaked in it. We can even grant them the title of pioneers in the field since it is, in France, the first series that deals with the rap game and urban culture. It is also the first French series where the action takes place in the suburbs, or in the street, showing faces on screen that we were not used to seeing until now.
This is one of the main reasons why Project X Paris decided to collaborate with the series for its streetwear universe: the presence of rappers, newcomers or confirmed stars, whom we could never have hoped to see elsewhere. We can notably mention Hatik or even Bosh, who went from being underground rappers to real headliners. The collaboration between PXP and Bosh made a lot of noise, with pieces that were very successful, whether it was the red tracksuit set , or the unisex PXP signature hoodie. Those with a keen eye may have even spotted some Project X clothes on screen in the series Validé.
The spirit of the series is exactly the one PXP wants to be associated with: innovative, bold, and original. All supervised by the experienced eye of Franck Gastambide, a recognized director who is also a street veteran and a child of urban culture. For those who don’t know, he started in cinema as a dog trainer, lending his animals for the shooting of “Les Rivières Pourpres” in 2000 or in the cult clip “Pour Ceux,” by Mafia K1 Fry. So we can say he has long been an important actor in urban culture, well beyond his cult comedies like “Pataya” or “Les Kaïras.”
“Caïd,” the very street and very punchy newcomer
We come to the newcomer in the field of series about the street or rap, “Caïd.” The series was released on March 10, 2021, on Netflix, and once again it is a success, further proof of the growing demand for all cultural products related to urban cultures (series, documentaries, YouTube reports, …). The series takes place in Marseille where Tony, a young rapper, is sent by his record label a director (Franck) and a cameraman (Thomas) to shoot a clip. The goal is to immerse in Tony’s daily life to produce a quite immersive and personal clip. But nothing will go as planned: the rapper is involved in several sometimes shady stories, and a gang war will eventually break out, with the cameraman obviously being the privileged witness. A very bold choice for the direction, which hits the mark since the intensity of the series carries you from start to finish without ever boring you.
The street is therefore the main setting of “Caïd” and naturally, directors Ange Basterga and Nicolas Lopez gave pride of place to Marseille streetwear. A colorful, totally uninhibited style, mixing football jerseys and tracksuits with the finest hoodies, or even open shirts à la Tony Montana. But also some more specific pieces, like the Project X Paris chest bag, an essential must-have for street adventurers. Iconic PXP streetwear accessories revamped by your favorite brand, a series of accessories with crazy class. All for a very rhythmic series, which is probably the most “street” but also the most realistic of the three works we talk about today.
Project X Paris, who are we?
Project X Paris is a brand that has established itself in the streetwear field since 2015. The brand has become essential and has even expanded internationally thanks to big names in urban culture (Gunna, Post Malone, Jason Derulo, Riyad Mahrez, Neymar). Today, PXP has more than 30 stores worldwide and over 1500 official retailers.