Visual Culture: 'The Fresh Prince of Bel Air' Gets A New Look For 2015
We must admit that as timeless as The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air feels, the show's look, at least, has become a bit...dated. Fashion and styling has come a long, long way since the series debuted 25 years ago, and in the age of Seinfeld Today, one can't help but wonder what a modern Carlton, Philip, Hilary and Will would look like.
Well, wonder no more. Artist Leland Foster has just published a new illustration series that transports The Fresh Prince into the modern era. They're portraits of the major characters decked out for the 21st century. Suddenly, seeing Carlton sporting Google Glass makes so much sense.
The pieces were commissioned by fashion company Lyst, who worked alongside Foster to create the final images. You can peruse a gallery of the new Fresh-er Prince above. Foster has sent Okayplayer an artist's statement via email--read it below:
I live in New York, so I drew a lot of inspiration for the modern styles from observing people on the streets of Chelsea, Greenwich Village, and all around Brooklyn. I worked in collaboration with London based Lyst, so they were helpful with refining the designs.I used to watch Fresh Prince quite a bit back in the day, so it was a fun project to work on. The characters on the show are so vibrant and full of energy; it was definitely a challenge coming up with modern looks while retaining their overall personalities.
I'm thrilled with the response the portraits have gotten so far. I was a little worried people would be annoyed with my vision of modern Will, Carlton, Geoffrey, Hilary, Ashley and Phil, but it's been a pleasant surprise how entertained people have been.
We're entertained indeed. Here's hoping that the rumored Fresh Prince reboot looks even half as spectacular as these images. Bravo, Mr. Foster. You can purchase fresh prints of the Fresh Prince images here.