Commonwealth Utilities

I was recently introduced to Commonwealth Utilities by a friend who said “You gotta check this out….ASAP”. After doing some research, I got in touch with founder and creative director Anthony Keegan to pick his brain and got to find out more about his motives and mission in starting the Commonwealth Utilities collection. With a fan base that is increasing exponentially (Marc Jacobs is already hooked), Keegan and business partner Richard Christiansen are playing their cards strategically. Christiansen, who is also the founder of Chandelier Creative (a full-service advertising agency) have the necessary skills at their fingertips to brand, advertise, and promote the Commonwealth Utilities line. Playing with the theme of “Champagne and Oreos” (style is about taste…..not price) – Keegan filled me in on what differentiates his brand from other menswear markets out there today.

Name: Anthony David Keegan
Occupation: Founder / Creative Director Commonwealth Utilies
Company: Commonwealth Utilities
Location: 611 Broadway, Penthouse New York NY

As the creative director for Commonwealth Utilities, what tasks/duties does your job entail on a daily basis?
As a new company – the task list is endless. Sourcing factories, fabrics, pattern makers. I don’t have a full staff yet, so Im the CEO and tea boy at the same time, which I dont mind, because I’m somewhat of a control freak.

What inspired the collection? What does “Commonwealth Utilities” mean to you?
The collection was based on the creative mans wardrobe. As a launch collection , we focussed on the 12 things in a mans wardrobe. In all honesty – men don’t change what they wear too often. A perfect peacoat, v neck cashmere, fitted shirt, straight jeans, denim jacket etc. We will always have that as our core of the brand. Although – I have to say fall looks way more exciting – we added the fashion element, and its smokin!
Commonwealth Utilities is based on the founders, myself being Canadian, and Richard Christiansen being and Australian ( Both countries are part of the Commonwealth ) . We also love the concept of “Champagne and Oreos” – a play on Common and Wealth – because we think style is about TASTE not PRICE. The Utilities portion was because we didn’t want to just be a clothing company, we wanted to be a full lifestyle brand, right down to the paper clip.

In your opinion, what differentiates Commonwealth Utilities from other menswear lines out there today?
The biggest difference in our line is that Ricard is the founder of Chandelier Creative, a creative fashion ad agency. So – having a full service advertising agency at your finger tips has made everything so much more interesting – Richard really puts the cherry on the cake. So many young designers have talent, but no understanding of marketing and promotion. So – its a great combination of design and marketing – Richard wants to harness his own ideas that get filtered by larger corporate clients and use our own brand to try out more aggressive guerrilla concepts that perhaps a Gap or Kate Spade company find a little hard to swallow.
Our brand is an entry level luxury company. It is a little more dressed up, “European thinking, New York Living”. I always envision the Pet Sop Boys video”Being Boring” where everyone is in this big hotel getting dressed up for a party, and the boys are running down the hallway in there underwear and the woman have these big beehives in Alaia tight dresses dancing on the stairs. After all, its fashion – it should be fun and fabulous.

What’s up next?
We have a cologne in the works already. We sat down and worked with a great “nose” who created all the Hermes colognes. We had all these concepts and our favorite scents on a table to refer to. Finally Richard stopped and said ” I want it to smell like a MAN, at 2am, in bar in the meatpacking district and he’s been smoking, and drinking whiskey, and he’s wearing a handmade suit and expensive shoes” – and so now we have that scent…Who needs a boyfriend when you can smell that all night?

If I wasn’t designing…..I would be……..?
I have always wanted to work in film. I have this ability to listen to music and make these vivid visions in my head of how the music video would be. Everytime I hear that song again, I rework the video….I’m waiting for someone to build a machine that can make what I see in my head on a screen.

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