'My Wife Really Wanted Some New Family Photos': Gary Clark Jr. Talks About His New John Varvatos Campaign
Gary Clark Jr. is feeling under the weather, but he’s still got enough energy as the medicine kicks in to kid around a little. We’re chatting on the phone about the musician and his family’s starring role in the new John Varvatos “Indivisible” campaign, and he’s explaining his motivation. “My wife really wanted some new family photos,” he jokes. “And that was it.”
Of course, it’s just a little bit more complicated than that. Clark has been a part of the John Varvatos world for more than half a decade, ever since his drummer at the time, JJ Johnson, needed a new pair of boots in New York City. He came back to the hotel, “and I was like, ‘Man, what are those?’” Clark says. Johnson told him they were by Varvatos; the store was just down the street. “So I walked over and I got a jacket and I just haven’t looked back since. That was it.”
Turns out the affection went both ways. Clark and Varvatos started chatting via Clark’s manager, and soon the musician was starring alongside Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page in the brand’s spring/summer 2013 campaign. Since then, the relationship has evolved beyond business to something more personal. Varvatos even attended Clark’s wedding to Australian model Nicole Trunfio in 2016. The couple now have two children, a son named Zion and his younger sister Gia.
“When I got to see his family growing, and his relationship with his wife Nicole, it was very special,” says John Varvatos. “When I saw him with his family in the last year or two, it made me think about what we’ve been talking about internally, this whole indivisible thing.” That “indivisible thing” eventually became the basis for this latest campaign.
“We’re in a crazy place right now in the world and in this country,” Varvatos explains. “Lots of angst from youth to adult, lots of infighting, and I don’t think we’re winning in that regard. And it really gets down to thinking about the word indivisible, which means like an unbreakable spirt. When I think about that, the first thing I think about is family. Through thick and thin, most families find a way-most relationships and families-find a way to live through it and find a way to a good place.”
Clark sees things in the same light. “You can’t deny who you really are, and you can’t deny your tribe-and sometimes you can’t pick ‘em,” he says. “The Indivisible campaign in itself, it’s, ‘We are here together, we won’t be divided.’ It resonates with who I am and what I think about as a person. And to include my family-a diverse family, and my wife who’s from a different country-there’s something about love that can’t be denied. Indivisible resonated with the way that I move and my family moves and the people that are around me.”
The idea, then, is to extend that attitude outwards. “I always try to, the best I can, understand how your energy effects the way that everything around you is,” Clark says. “It’s the ripple effect. So, with that at your core, and your community, and linking up and spreading that, it brings everything together.”
That’s where the link between fashion and music comes in, says Varvatos. “Music is a huge connector. In most people’s lives, it’s one of the most important things. And style and fashion also is a connector with people. It’s a part of how they represent themselves to the world as well.” Combine the two, and, with some luck, you’ve got something powerful.
“What I’m saying is that something brings us together,” Clark explains. “And it grows and you spread the message… It grows and it helps you do your thing and eventually it moves mountains.”
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