Move Over, Marty Supreme: Charli XCX’s Custom Puffers Are the Movie Merch Moment
The premiere of Charli xcx’s The Moment was always going to be, well, a moment. Out in Park City, Utah at the Sundance Film Festival, fashion leans plushy and cozy, maybe even a little GORP-y. Trust, though, that Charli xcx would inject the snowy scene with her own personal style. First, with the boss bitch Saint Laurent suiting, then, the Simon Carle lace-lined PVC raincoat and babydoll dress ensemble, and some ultra-fluffy, polka-dotted archival Rodarte. It was a surprise, however, that Charli’s most practical look was also her most propulsive.
The pop star and now-actor wrapped up in not one, but two The Moment merch puffer jackets. The first, a black cropped jacket with a Brat green “M” and the movie title in red across the chest—the “McMoment”—was styled with Off-White black sunglasses and a teeny pair of R and M leather micro shorts. The second, in a red and cobalt blue colorway, referenced a pack of Marlboro cigarettes, paired with flared indigo jeans and Ugg mini boots. Brat winter is dressed appropriately.
Both pieces of movie merch jackets were conceptualized and designed by designer, creative, and art director Sasyk. The Prague-born Sasyk, who works between LA, New York, and London, focuses on visual identity, brand, and fashion-adjacent projects. Or, as he puts it: “Taking things that already exist in the world, random references, and slightly misaligning them to create something new.” He’s also a regular collaborator with Charli’s stylist Chris Horan; the two previously worked together to build a visual world for the singer Adéla.
The jackets arrive at a time where movie merch is a real thing—thanks to Marty Supreme and Timothee Chalamet’s rainbow of nylon M.S. sports jackets, and to production company A24 more widely, see for reference their The Brutalist beanies and a Babygirl tee with a glass of milk graphic.
Horan and the film’s director, Aidan Zamiri, reached out to Sasyk about two weeks before the premiere with a strong vision in mind, asking the designer to play around with racer jacket aesthetics and already recognizable logos. “There was an intention to subtly distort familiar American logo language, almost as a joke on brand endorsements,” says Sasyk.
From there, he researched heritage racer and F1 jackets and logo-heavy outerwear, experimenting with stacked logos and busy fronts. The final “McMoment” jacket was the more restrained, the Marlboro cigarette pack-inspired design more outré. The Moment’s visual language and its colors, created by Special Offer Inc., were the main source, and they came up with 20 variations—more than enough to rival the litany of colorful Marty Supreme nylons.
Bo Metz at Bomme Studio spearheaded production, translating graphics, colors, and placements into something that worked physically on the jacket. The LA-based Bomme Studio has collaborated on custom tour looks for artists including Doja Cat and Janelle Monáe, principal looks for Meryl Streep and Margot Robbie on film, as well as musicians’ merch. Metz, who was once a film and television union tailor, also worked with Kate and Laura Mulleavy of Rodarte on a collaboration that lasted almost a decade. “It was especially meaningful to see Charli wearing Rodarte at Sundance alongside our puffers,” says Metz.
Metz connected with Charli’s team through a creative director he works with at Under Armour. Receiving the initial print design and artwork from Sasyk, Metz then worked to make it physical.
Metz sought to develop a jacket pattern and silhouette that felt aligned with Charli’s style, “Something cropped, confident, and a little sexy,” he says. “Many of those decisions came down to instinct and experience, translating the energy of the artwork into a silhouette that felt right for her and her brand and personal style.” Each jacket came together quickly. The entire process, from initial setup to final delivery, took about a week. “I focused on getting the fabrication, color, and proportions right, trusting the original creative vision. In situations like this, it is really about respecting the work of the artist and designers while making sure the execution lives up to the moment.”
Making merch for the satirical pop star mockumentary was an opportunity for both Metz and Sasuk to play with the movie’s broader themes of consumerism, artifice, and what cool really is—making something… really, really cool. “I’m drawn to projects where the merch can feel like an artefact rather than a product,” says Sasyk. “I loved the whole Brat era, and I feel really lucky to have been able to contribute even a very small part to it.”
“I liked the Marty Supreme merch because of how it moves between screen, fashion, and meme, it almost becomes one single thing, which I find really beautiful and fun,” he adds. “It’s about speed, visibility, and cultural awareness. Merch today works less as a product and more as a signal. When it understands that role, it becomes powerful.”
Metz, meanwhile, hasn’t had the same experience of the Marty Supreme cultural phenomenon foisted upon him. “I do not know a ton about the Marty Supreme merch,” he admits, “I only became really aware of it after people started tagging me in memes comparing the jackets, which I thought was pretty funny!”
It’s not clear yet whether The Moment merch will get the same pop-up shop circuit, or be widely released at all. We’ve seen Rachel Sennott ensconced in said puffer, but we’re yet to see Kylie Jenner or Alexander Skarsgard wrap up the McMoment or Marlboro style. “Projects like this are truly collaborative and do not belong to one person,” adds Metz. Hopefully, we all get a chance to cozy up to this cultural moment.
Source URL: http://vogue.com/article/charli-xcx-the-moment-custom-puffer-jackets-movie-merch