Model: @thomas.m.lloyd

When we came back after the Christmas break, we decided that 2022 would be the year to re-introduce the community & lifestyle element of the brand and to showcase more of the people and stories that make P&Co what it is today. Coming out of the last 2 years, many of us are looking for a means of escapism, and being able to go out and shoot content around the world gives us that sense of freedom that we need.

Through our content, we also aim to inspire you guys to go out and chase after your own version of escapism- whether that be through creative projects, live music or the open road. A couple of weeks back- at the time of writing- we met up with a friend of the brand Tom Lloyd in his 34-year-old VW T25, to shoot a few of our pieces including our spring 2022 range. Whilst we had set up external shoots in New Zealand, Belgium and LA, we didn’t want to ignore what the UK has to offer us. We chose to shoot along the south coast of England, after all a P&Co road trip was well overdue.

We set off the day before the main shoot, leaving the midlands around 8:30 am ready for the 3-4 hour drive to the city of Brighton & Hove. Brighton offers a good mix of creative urban & picturesque coastal backdrops- which was one of the deciding factors for shooting there. We arrived around noon and spent the afternoon scouting locations for the shoot with Tom the next day. We walked over 10 miles from the city to the coast discovering some stunning spots along the way. We reached the beach in the early evening and looked out across the sea. The sky was thick with sea mist but we could just about see the lighthouse peeping out from behind the fog. We ended the day with pizza and a few beers before heading back to prep for the day ahead.

The next morning we walked back into the city to meet Tom at the first coffee shop- Café Coho near Brighton & Hove train station. We captured a few frames around the station before moving on to our second & then third coffee shop- the recently opened ‘Meanwhile’, and Small Batch coffee. Can you spot a bit of a theme here?

We wrapped up in the city and traced our steps back to the coastal path, starting at Beachy Head- the highest chalk sea cliff in Britain standing at 162 metres above sea level. We parked up the van and shot our aptly named Wind Breaker Jackets on the cliff tops. We couldn’t have set up a better field test for them- the winds even higher as we reached the cliff edge. The only downside to shooting a spring collection on a day in February in the UK is the cold. So we worked fast to get through all the selected pieces for that location, before running back to the van where Tom cooked up some bacon and eggs on his camping stove- a welcome sight after hours in the wind.

Tom brought home his Volkswagen T25 camper at the beginning of lockdown in 2020. He converted the interior, fitted the stove & reupholstered the seating for a more lived-in & relaxed vibe. Since then he has travelled mostly around the UK, exploring hidden coves & visiting music festivals with his family. The van has opened up new travel opportunities- bringing with it newfound freedom & memories- something we wanted to capture in our photography.

After lunch, we headed down to Birling Gap- a pebbled beach at the base of the Seven Sisters cliffs & where the south meets the sea. The tan of waxed Wayfare really stood out against the contrast of the chalky white cliffs, so we took the opportunity to get some much needed new content of those. You really couldn’t get further away from the city- other than the sound of the waves crashing against the rocks, the air was silent & it almost felt like the edge of the world. Talking of the waves- there was a moment that we thought we’d lost Toni, our Content Coordinator, as she filmed along the shore. As Tom sat on the pebbles putting on his boots & struggling to avoid the incoming tide, we knew it was our cue to move on.

We continued the drive along the coastal path and arrived at our final destination, the top of the Seven Sisters Cliffs, just as the sun was setting. The pastel sky made for some incredible content and really ended the day on a high. It was a lot of early starts and late nights, 30,000 steps and over 200 miles. There was plenty of laughs and countless cups of coffee, but overall it just felt really good to be back out on location & on the road with the team.