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"FacebookPinterest\n\nPegged by studio types as a finicky and challenging actor in the 1960s, Dennis Hopper set his sights on another passion, photography: and he was quite good at it. Dennis' images and his bohemian lifestyle in Southern California were the focus of a recent postmortem collaboration with Vans. We chatted with lead designer, Matthew Ross, about the other side of an American film legend.\n\nThe GQ Eye: Why Hopper and Vans? What kicked off this project and what about Dennis works so well for your brand?\n\nMatthew Ross: Everyone knows that Dennis Hopper was an amazing actor, fewer know what a talented photographer he was. Even less realize that the bohemian style that Dennis and his close friends brought to American consciousness in the late 50s continues to tremendously impact casual California fashion today.\n\nI originally approached Dennis to come and help curate an art t-shirt project, as he was connected to surf legend Herbie Fletcher and the Dogtown skate guys: all huge figures in Vans' history. His personal aesthetics fell similarly in line with Vans: his rebellious nature and self-expression through his different creative outlets match what we strive to accomplish with our brand.\n\nFacebookPinterest\n\nGQ: The focus of this project seems more on Dennis' life than anything related to his acting career...\n\nRoss: Although he was one of the most prolific actors of our time, the Dennis Hopper that we really are paying tribute to in this project is Dennis the photographer. After we approached Dennis, he worked with his daughter and assistant and they put together this mini book of Dennis' images that told the story of his Vans connection. They took certain eras from his life that often you associate with his films and sent us this series of great images he had created. We began work on this clothing collection and all of the artwork you see on the t-shirts and the jacket lining are either his photographs or artistic creations.\n\nFacebookPinterest\n\nGQ: Mr Porter recently featured Dennis' son, Henry (above) in an editorial and he has great style. Was he involved at all in the project?\n\nRoss: Henry's input, at the beginning, was critical to the project advancing. Dennis knew Vans and even showed us an old black &amp;amp; white photo of him wearing the sneakers, but he looked to Henry for the thumbs up as far as working with us now. While designing the collection alongside Marin Hopper and the Hopper Foundation, we kept Henry and his style in mind as we were aiming to create pieces that he would want to wear.\n\nThe collection - which includes a heavyweight wad cotton jacket, a woven, two pairs of canvas shoes, five artwork-inspired tees and a driving cap - is now available exclusively at Urban Outfitters."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.gq.com/story/vans-dennis-hopper-project---interview-with-matthew-ross-head-designer>