Photos n’ Boots at the Frye Company Popup Gallery

Those are some expensive boots, pardner.

How can I get you into a pair of $398 boots?

Perhaps an evening of beautiful people, interesting photos and delicious cocktails?

On Thursday night, I attended the Frye Company Popup Gallery in Georgetown. It’s a beautiful store, a virtual temple to leather on Wisconsin Avenue. The evening, curated by local arbiters of cool Worn Creative, featured hand-crafted drinks from Catoctin Creek, as well as music spun by U.S. Royalty.

I was there for the art. Hanging on the walls of the two-story Frye Company store was work by Jim Darling, Amber Mahoney, Martin Swift and Jessica Lancaster. I’m a huge fan of Jim and Amber, having met them through InstantDC. I think Jim is best at portraits – he’s able to respectfully connect with people (even strangers on the street) to create photos that capture the essence of a person. And Amber creates beautiful dreamscapes that have the quality of myth.

Both of them are also incredibly nice people – hire them the next time you need photos.

Jim Darling and his fiance Amy.

The Worn Creative model is also really interesting. We’re bombarded with marketing messages these days – most of which we ignore. Think of all the banner ads, commercials and billboards that you pay no attention to. How do you break through the clutter?

One way is through creative events like this popup gallery, in which you combine art, music and drinks to create a brand experience to lure in potential buyers. It’s more effective than creating a 30-second commercial that people will ignore. And a lot more fun for your target audience. It’s also local, featuring DC artists, and personalized, for it was invite-only. The only thing missing was its own hashtag.

The future lies in this kind of creative marketing that seeks to surprise and delight buyers rather than bludgeoning them with messages that they seek to avoid.

The Frye Company Popup Gallery successfully imprinted in my head the belief that their boots are cool and drool-worthy. But I didn’t buy the $398 boots. I’m not that rich or crazy.

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