Type: Leica’s New Digicam Combines Generation With Boulevard Taste

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Leica Camera AG has released a new compact digital camera designed in collaboration with New York-based graffiti artist STASH and Tokyo street fashion brand A Bathing Ape (BAPE), as the brand tries to tap into street arts and style’s growing popularity.   

The camera is based on its compact digital model, Leica D-Lux 7, and features a body covered with BAPE’s ABC Camo, the brand’s Ape head insignia, as well as STASH’s distinctive wildstyle graffiti, incorporating interwoven and overlapping letters and shapes.

The new camera comes with two finishes: A limited edition of 750 black-finish cameras are sold in the Leica stores; and 250 silver-finish cameras are sold in the BAPE stores. Both retail for US$2,190.

“Documenting my art through photography has always been part of my creativity. With the advent of digital cameras, I got my first Leica,” STASH says. 

A selection of his photographs will be presented in a special exhibition at the Leica store in Los Angeles to mark the collaboration.

Born
Josh Franklin
in 1967, STASH started painting New York tunnels and train stations in the early 1980s and exhibited at a young age along with pop artists such as
Keith Haring
and
Jean-Michel Basquiat.
He later on became a successful gallery artist and collaborated on product designs with many fashion brands.

Photography, street art, and street fashion “are visual, based on color, form and expressive freedom. I think they are strongly youth-driven, and there is so much creativity between them that one feeds into the other to help complete the story,” STASH says.

This is not the first time a camera manufacturer has celebrated street art. Polaroid designed an instant camera featuring the iconic artwork of late New York-based artist Keith Haring in 2021. It retailed for US$139.

Through this collaboration, Leica is trying to cater to the needs of younger customers, says
Andrea Pacella,
director of global marketing and communications at Leica Camera AG. “There is a very thin border between the pleasure of taking pictures with the camera and the pleasure of owning a beautiful object, the camera itself,” he says.

In June, Leica released a limited edition of 250 Leica M-A “Titan” sets, featuring solid titanium in key components of the camera and lens. It retails for just under US$20,000.