Our Inspiration

As the locals know, Troy is nicknamed The Collar City due to its significance in the invention and manufacturing of detachable collars during the turn of the last century, and it was the illustrator J. C. Leyendecker who was the powerhouse behind the major ad campaign The Arrow Collar Man.

These ads, along with much of J. C.’s work was featured in The Saturday Evening Post and he helped to put Troy on the map of the United States during the 1910s-1930s.

There is a line in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald in which Daisy says to Gatsby, ”You always look so cool…. You resemble the advertisement of the man.” This is in reference to those famous ads, and while The Arrow Collar Man featured the partner of a closeted gay illustrator, the ideal was considered a major sex symbol of the era.

Although Leyendecker was producing at a time in which photography was becoming more accessible, he worked off of live, costumed models in his studio, in the tradition of the Académie Julian in Paris. This approach was also passed down to Norman Rockwell, whom Leyendecker mentored and helped to reach The Saturday Evening Post fame.

But our inspiration doesn’t stop short with iconic Americana. Looking back further and into those artists who inspired the Leyendeckers is the Art Nouveau and Belle Époque movements of Montmartre, Paris. Think of Toulouse Lautrec, Sargent, Mucha, The Moulin Rogue, Le Chat Noir, and many, whimsical more. How was it was that they convened in the same city that they did, partook in the same entertainment and helped to develop its rich culture, and particularly, its night life?

The Collar City Coterie aims to walk a similar path and found a local legacy.