Quiet is the New Loud

Who are we?

I recently read that, unlike the decades that preceded the 2010’s (20-teens?), every year thereafter has had no real identity of its own. The 60s were a wild battle of macrame v. neckties, marijuana v. napalm; the 80s reveled in the glow of their own fluorescent tubularity; even the pre-teen Y2K’s had an endearingly naive sense of its superfuturistic self.

But, as the 2000’s grow into their awkwardly mature 20’s, now seems an apt moment to reflect, with the hope of summoning some semblance of an identity – any identity – before reaching the next decennium.

Judged by its heavy bent toward collab’s, covers, remixes and reissues, the current creative culture seems to have reached peak unoriginality, with most if not all output being generally derivative.

Which is why I find momentary solace whenever I come across something that walks its own path of quiet individuality, holding true to its identity while absorbing inspiration from its lineage. Not unlike a wide-eyed traveller, submerging his senses in the depths of foreignness, and coming away the same and yet changed. Wandering, but not lost.

The recently-dropped O’Riginals Collection, from the brand who put the “O” in OG and featuring Ian Crane, feels this way to me – inspired but not impersonating; nostalgia-inducing without any of the cloying retro-ness.

With little fanfare and a subtly brilliant design sense, the compact capsule – and the visceral imagery that brings it to life – reminds us of the quiet magic that underpins why we do what we do.

Realized in a considered range of sun-bleached hues, each piece in the collection embodies the salty satisfaction of one-way-ticketed adventures: the strange scents and small joys of finally nailing the pronunciation of your favorite breakfast food; the wild chickens, timid dogs and scooter families that crowd your dreams; and the secret Edens that are hidden just beyond dense walls of fern and palm.

After a week of hardly checking your phone, the noise of the world evaporates into the humid, cumulus skies. And, in this place, you realize that your brain’s seemingly full bandwidth had, specially reserved, an empty block of mental megabytes, saved solely for the cognitive preservation of these places and the sandy footprints they leave behind.

Bringing together this combination of simplicity, quietude and the paring-down of distraction, a direct path to self-knowledge is revealed. And in this way, Jack O’Neill’s namesake brand has successfully evoked the pure thrill of how we got here, saying much with little.

If we, individually and collectively, choose to get quiet, curb the constant influx of chatter and actually listen, we may also find ourselves in earshot of our own voice again.

And maybe if brands like O’Neill have any say in the matter, by the time these 2000’s hit their self-actualized 30s, they’ll find themselves in no real danger of being doomed to a legacy of redundancy. And this moment in time, captured by team O, will be evidence thereof.

Explore the O’Riginals Collection and judge the existential mastery for yourself.