Unconventional ‘We Love NYC’ merch line celebrates city’s rats, trash & swagger
The new collection is inspired by New York City’s pop culture, garbage and sizeable rat population.
New ads celebrate the street style of New York's human and rodent residents / Credit: We Love NYC
In the city that never sleeps, a new merchandise line has emerged that embraces not only its essence and quirks but also its furry four-legged inhabitants: rats.
‘We Love NYC,’ a 19-piece collection made in New York for New Yorkers, was launched on Wednesday. According to a press release, the merch line celebrates “the good, the bad and the funky” of the Big Apple, with the introduction of one more rat: Rony, the face of the ’Rats of NY,’ who boasts personal styles as diverse as the city’s eclectic residents.
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The merch line comes as tourists flock to the city to tour its exploding rat population, with tour guides even selling excursions through alleyways and corners where rats reign supreme, according to the New York Post.
Leading the unconventional lineup is the ’Stay Trashy’ tote bag, which is made entirely from NYC black trash bags. It’s a cheeky nod to high-end designer bags that cost upwards of $3,000 and the influencers who wear them.
Other highlights include rolling papers that celebrate the long-awaited decriminalization of weed in the city and which playfully display “high as a skyscraper” on the packet.
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“We felt like NYC could use one more rat. We know there’s an appetite out there for some different style of merch,” said Tanya De Poli, co-founder of We Love NYC. “We’re just taking it to the next level. The good, the bad and the funky is what makes New York, New York.”
As part of the collection’s launch, a series of black trash bags were scattered around the city on Wednesday that read “Trash Talk.” Each bag contains a QR code to the e-commerce site, www.welovenyccollection.com, where the merch can be explored and purchased.
There are also various strategically placed out-of-home executions, including billboards of the Rats of New York, as well as a three-dimensional digital installation in Brooklyn that transforms from a giant rat trap into a pop-up shop of the full collection.
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The We Love NYC collection and its out-of-home campaign were developed in partnership with Founders, a minority-owned, indie creative agency that has previously worked for Spotify, Netflix, Paramount, Heineken and other brands.
The launch of the new merch line is unrelated to the rebranding of ‘I ♥ NY’ to ‘We ♥ NYC,’ which occurred earlier this year.
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