HAVANA CLUB UNVEILS SUMMER COLLABORATION WITH PLACES+FACES
In 2023, Places+Faces celebrate their 10-year anniversary. Founders Imran Ciesay and Solomon Boyede (Ciesay and Soulz) have been on an incredible rise and wild creative journey since Ciesay first began a Tumblr blog of backstage photography in 2013. The brand now encompasses photography and film creation, streetwear and merchandise collections, and nightlife experiences across the world.
Havana Club was keen to support the 10-year anniversary of Places+Faces and continue a run of authentic, creative, and meaningful collaborations. The two brands first joined forces in 2019 to drop a limited-edition bottle, capsule collection of clothing and video content featuring Tommy Genesis, Kelvyn Colt and Dough-Boy, that was shot on location in Havana. 2023 felt like the perfect occasion to come together again and travel back to Cuba where it all began.
““Being able to return to Havana and shoot the campaign for this new Collab was very special to us. Havana holds a special place in our hearts, and we love working with Cuban talents and a Cuban crew to help realise our vision and our love for Cuba.””
The colours and textures of Havana inspired the limited-edition Places+Faces x Havana Club 7 bottle that sits at the centre of their 2023 collaboration. Perfectly timed for Summer, this limited-edition bottle is light and bright, as though touched by the Cuban sun. The bottle is complemented by a selection of merchandise in the Places+Faces signature style, including tees and a hoody. These items will be available to purchase on placesplusfaces.com in July with 50% of sales donated to Black Learning Achievement and Mental Health (BLAM).
“We have elected to make a donation to BLAM due to their commendable efforts in establishing nurturing environments for youth and fostering their understanding of black history,” adds Ciesay, “BLAM plays a vital role in preserving African and Afro-Caribbean culture, which is gradually diminishing. By supporting BLAM, we aim to contribute to the preservation and dissemination of knowledge about this rich cultural heritage among future generations.”
Havana Club and Places+Faces invited two special guests, rapper Headie One and model Ming Savannah, to join them in Cuba and feature in the collaboration content. Headie and Ming brought their distinctive UK edge and energy, contributing to the dynamic cultural exchange that the campaign represents. “We wanted to do something differently for our 2nd collab with Havana” explains Ciesay. “The first time we were there we treated the trip as flies on the wall, capturing the city in a very docu style. For this collab we wanted to plan it out and treated it like we were shooting a short film, filming over multiple days and various locations shot all over Havana, casting a range of Cuban talent and having them perform in real spaces. We wanted to tell a story with our new film through the visuals capturing an essence of Cuba.”
“Havana Club are proud to invest in long-term relationships with a collaborator like Places+Faces”, says Ian Mitchell, Creative Content Manager from the Havana Club Global Marketing Team. “We deeply value and respect the creative vision and community standing of Ciesay, Soulz and their team. The outputs from this collaboration look incredible - Headie and Ming have been excellent as our faces - and we’re raising a glass to the next 10 years of success for Places+Faces”.
THE PLACES+FACES X HAVANA CLUB LIMITED EDITION BOTTLE IS AVAILABLE IN UK CONVENIENCE STORES FROM JULY & CAN BE FOUND IN SELECT SUPERMARKETS IN AUGUST. THE ASSOCIATED MERCH COLLECTION WILL DROP ON PLACESPLUSFACES.COM ON 24TH JULY.
