Home » Country Road Launches ‘Regeneration’ Campaign For Fire-Affected Communities

30 July, 2020

Country Road Launches ‘Regeneration’ Campaign For Fire-Affected Communities

Country Road has today launched its new Spring campaign, ‘Regeneration,’ fronted by real community heroes from fire-affected communities left devastated by the bushfires last summer.

A fire captain who helped save homes, a volunteer who made meals, and traditional land owner are the new faces of the iconic fashion label’s 2020 campaign that was shot in Glen Alice, a small community at the base of the Blue Mountains in the Capertee Valley, three hours west of Sydney.

The campaign was shot over two days on properties ravaged by fire. However, seven months later green shoots are starting to reappear from blackened tree trunks and fauna is starting to return to the area.

Country Road managing director Elle Roseby said the brand was proud to be able to use their voice to shine a light on fire-affected areas.

“When we heard Steve talking about the importance of regeneration, it really hit home for us – and, that was honoured in this year’s Spring campaign name. It provides a sense of moving forward, of growth – and that’s exactly what you see from the people of Glen Alice, and no doubt, other fire-affected, communities,” Roseby said.

“The incredible stories that are told in this year’s campaign – quite simply couldn’t have been told without the people at the heart of them,” added Roseby.

Country Road creative director Kai Tunley said the Spring collection focuses on and celebrates natural fibres and he said the brand thought it was the perfect backdrop to tell this story.

“We really wanted to tell an authentic story of a community recovering and banding together after the bushfires. The Australian spirit is something we wanted to convey with this campaign, as this is something our brand has always aimed to represent,” Tunley said.

Tunley also said the successful shoot was the way forward for Country Road.

“It’s important to use our brand to tell real stories with real people. Ultimately, we still use fashion models but for campaigns like this, where the focus is our land and our people, in order to tell the story authentically, we need to have the two running parallel,” he said.

Capertee Fire Brigade captain Steve Dalli is normally seen wearing firefighting overalls rather than sweats and shirts. But he said he enjoyed the opportunity to partake in the fashion shoot.

“Being a firefighter during recent times has been particularly stressful. After 2.5 years of drought and the bushfires, to now see the trees and local bushland slowly coming back to life is absolutely fantastic – and seeing our community’s story at the forefront of the Country Road campaign for the world to see is quite an honour,” said Dalli.

Local farmer and mother of four Terrie Wallace admits she was nervous about the shoot.

During the fires, she led a group of volunteers to help cook meals for RFS firefighters and wash fire trucks. Mrs Wallace said she’s proud of the campaign highlighting her hometown coming together.

“I was blown away with how Country Road has developed our story – and how they’ve used real people and their clothes to showcase how fabulous our community is. As a teenager, my first paycheck bought me a Country Road jumper – I never thought I’d be asked to participate in anything quite like this,” Wallace said.

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