A New Kodak Moment — And Fujifilm Should Follow

A Kodak Moment – Antelope Island SP, UT – Fujifilm X-T20

Yesterday, the New York Times published a story entitled The Kodak Brand Gets a Second Life. In South Korea, there are over 120 Kodak Apparel stores that sell shirts, hats, sunglasses, handbags, luggage, and more with the Kodak logo on them. Kodak Apparel isn’t a part of Eastman Kodak, but a different company called Highlight Brands that simply licenses the name from Kodak. While Kodak Apparel is currently huge in South Korea, it hasn’t quite caught on worldwide… yet.

The New York Times suggests that this is a part of an international trend that’s being dubbed newtro, a combination of new and retro. Newtro describes something that is brand-new but seems to be or nods to something that’s vintage. Many Fujifilm cameras, like the X-E5, X100VI, X-T5, X-T50, X-M5, and X half, fall into this category. The X-Pro would, too, if they were currently making one.

What’s old is cool again. While antiques and vintage things are “in” right now, so are things that just seem to be retro or pay homage to that. It shouldn’t be surprising that Kodak clothes are extremely trendy in South Korea. What is surprising is that companies like Kodak and Fujifilm aren’t doing more to capitalize on the newtro movement. Yes, Fujifilm is certainly benefiting from it when it comes to camera sales, but they could be doing so much more.

People want to sport their favorite brands. As my kids would say, they want their fit to be fire. I would wear a Kodak Film shirt, and carry Kodachrome duffle bag. These things need to become available everywhere, and not just in South Korea. While Fujifilm does have a merch store, it’s pretty small with only a handful of options, and most if it isn’t newtro. Even if they have no interest in becoming an apparel brand, Fujifilm could license out their logo—especially their old emblems and trademarks—for other companies to use. I don’t know if they realize just how big this could be.

Fujifilm Drip – NYC, NY – Fujifilm X-T50 – Pacific Blues

Shirts, sweaters, jackets, and things like that are obvious options that both Kodak and Fujifilm should sell (or license to a third-party to sell). But camera accessories—straps, bags, etc.—should not be overlooked. For Kodak, why not license to a camera brand? There could be a Leica M11 Kodak collectors edition, with some red and yellow trim, for example. Or—shockingly—a Kodak edition of a Fujifilm camera, something like my faux Kodak Retina.

Fujifilm’s recommitment to retro-styled bodies comes at an opportune time. With the historic demand of the X100VI, which has already outsold any previous X100-series camera, Fujifilm is working overtime on production—this camera has been a massive hit. Just this year Fujifilm released the GFX100RF, X half, and X-E5. Newtro doesn’t just apply to physical products, though. Fujifilm’s Film Simulations (and, of course, Recipes) are a big part of the appeal. Think of them as newtro aesthetics. They’re not quite film but a big nod to the retro look that film has produced for a very long time. Fujifilm has a massive leg-up on this compared to their competition, and it is an under appreciated aspect of their success. I think, though, that we’re seeing just the tip of the iceberg, and there’s a huge untapped potential. Kodak and Fujifilm both have big opportunities, and they could learn from each other how to fully capitalize on it.

7 comments

  1. Joerg · July 2

    I saw some young waitress in Lisbon, Portugal, wearing a Kodak t-shirt. By her looks, I thought, she was a philippina, I also thought, she most likely had no idea, what the logo on the t-shirt really meant.
    I agree, I would probably wear a Velvia t-shirt, if it is not over-priced.
    What I also think, is, that as much as I like the idea of a Kodachrome bag, t-shirt or what not, that would be a total hypocrisy given that Kodak killed Kodachrome by stopping to even provide the chemistry for developing Kodachrome film.

    • Greg V · July 3

      That obscure brand Kodak, and that obscure hobby of taking photos….

    • Ritchie Roesch · July 3

      If you look carefully at the Kodachrome bag, it’s actually Kodachrome Basin State Park (in Utah), which was named after the film.

  2. Nialler · July 3

    I have some Fujifilm kit. There it stops. Nike don’t sell full-frame cameras, and I likely wouldn’t buy them if they did.

    • Ritchie Roesch · July 3

      I have a Polaroid shirt (which, of course, is not made by Polaroid) that I enjoy wearing, plus a couple with classic film cameras on them. I think it’s cool. I’d definitely buy clothes with the Kodak and/or Fujifilm logo on it.

  3. theBitterFig · July 3

    The two hats I wear are a Polaroid one I bought at Target (so there’s at least some reach for film-related kit in the US mass market), and a Pentax hat I bought from Ricoh-Pentax off their website. And it was cheaper to get the official one than it would be to get a scalper one.

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