J.Crew’s new campaign is an adventurous romp straight out of its ’90s catalogs

Grab your jelly sandals, one-piece, and striped swim trunks: It’s time to hit the beach at Camp Crew, the setting of J.Crew’s summer campaign that’s selling sweet summer romance (and bikinis) to the masses. “Camp Crew” debuted on June 2 in a series of Instagram posts and a 40-second video on the brand’s website. The ad campaign combines new pieces that feature Camp Crew branding, like a red-and-white ringer tee and cream baseball cap, with items from J.Crew’s general summer collection, like a lightweight version of the brand’s iconic roll-neck sweater and plenty of beachy apparel. The entire campaign revolves around the nostalgia-packed setting of Camp Crew, which is operated by a cast of “camp counselors” pulled straight from a dream scenario—including models Jasmine Tookes, Martha Hunt, Taylor Hill, Sara Sampaio, and Josephine Skriver. [Photo: J. Crew] The campaign is the embodiment of a marketing formula that J.Crew has spent the last several months perfecting. It’s an approach that turns each launch into its own retro-inspired storytelling platform, populated by familiar faces who elevate J.Crew’s apparel into the uniform of a fictional universe you can never visit, but wish you could. Inside J.Crew’s winning marketing playbook J.Crew’s winning new playbook has been slowly taking shape since Libby Wadle, a 20-year veteran of the company, stepped in as CEO in 2020. Wadle has since been focusing on the brand’s broader turnaround, including a return to its aesthetic origins (preppy, vintage Ivy League style) and a greater focus on strategic partnerships to boost its cultural relevance. [Photo: J.Crew] We first saw J. Crew’s new approach to marketing this past October, with its wildly successful roll-neck sweater campaign, which was spearheaded by new CMO Julia Collier. (Collier previously led marketing at Skims.) The campaign, for a reimagined version of the iconic sweater, included talent like actress Molly Gordon and singer Maggie Rogers.