ACF X COLORS x STUDIOSCOLORSxSTUDIOS
Turning a Global Music Platform Into Local Cultural Experiences
New York, London, Paris
In 2025, COLORSxSTUDIOS commissioned Art Comes First to help shape the creative direction and cultural programming of its international TONES platform across New York, London and Paris. Across three cities, ACF developed culturally specific experiences spanning fashion, art, photography, archive, workshops, product, music and community, creating a consistent creative language while allowing each city to tell its own story.
Photography:
APM
Tibaut Chouara
Overview
One Global Platform. Three Cities. Three Cultural Expressions.
In 2025, COLORSxSTUDIOS commissioned Art Comes First to contribute creative direction and cultural programming to its international TONES platform across New York, London and Paris.
TONES extends the world of COLORS beyond its digital music stage into physical experiences connecting music, fashion, art, knowledge-sharing and community.
Art Comes First approached the programme through the cultural identity of each host city rather than reproducing the same activation internationally.
New York explored portraiture, style and archive.
London connected punk tailoring, Rudeboy culture, craftsmanship and participation.
Paris brought together sustainability, fashion, art and transformation through Black Super Market.
Across the three cities, ACF developed experiences spanning exhibition-making, photography, workshops, product, styling, archive curation and community participation, creating a consistent creative philosophy while allowing each location to speak in its own cultural language.
Selected Highlights
• Creative direction and cultural programming across New York, London and Paris
• Developed culturally specific experiences within the international TONES platform
• Created multidisciplinary activations spanning fashion, music, art, photography, archive, craft and community
• Developed an interactive Polaroid portrait studio and curated ACF archive presentation for TONES of NYC
• Presented the three-day Black Riot exhibition and sustainable craft programme for TONES of London
• Developed exclusive COLORS × Art Comes First merchandise for the London programme
• Integrated screen-printing, heat transfer, styling and participatory customisation into the public experience
• Presented Black Super Market with Marché Noir for TONES of Paris
• Connected circular design, vintage sourcing, repair and one-of-one product with experiential retail
• Created different cultural expressions for each city while maintaining the wider identity of the TONES platform
CLIENT
COLORSxSTUDIOS
PROJECT
TONES 2025
STATUS
2025 International Programme Completed
DURATION
July–October 2025
INDUSTRY
Music · Culture · Fashion · Art · Experiences
LOCATION
New York · London · Paris
ACF SERVICES
Creative Direction · Cultural Strategy · Cultural Programming · Experience Design · Exhibition Curation · Art Direction · Community Engagement · Workshop Programming · Product Development · Styling · Photography · Archive Curation · Cultural Storytelling
SCOPE OF COLLABORATION
Creative Direction
Developing concepts and cultural narratives across the international programme.
✓ Creative concepts
✓ Cultural strategy
✓ Experience direction
✓ Art direction
✓ Exhibition concepts
✓ Spatial thinking
✓ Styling
✓ Visual storytelling
Cultural Programming
Connecting the platform with relevant ideas, practices and communities.
✓ Community programming
✓ Cultural conversations
✓ Workshops
✓ Archive programming
✓ Exhibition curation
✓ Music-led experiences
✓ Creative participation
✓ Cross-disciplinary collaboration
Experiences & Curation
Translating cultural concepts into physical environments.
✓ Polaroid Photo Studio
✓ Archive exhibitions
✓ Black Riot
✓ Black Super Market
✓ Experiential retail
✓ Live customisation
✓ Sustainable workshops
✓ Participatory installations
Product & Content
Extending the experience through physical objects and visual documentation.
✓ Collaborative merchandise
✓ Limited-edition product
✓ Graphic concepts
✓ Styling
✓ Portrait photography
✓ Customisation
✓ Product storytelling
✓ Cultural documentation
CREATIVE APPROACH
Global Identity. Local Interpretation.
Rather than beginning with a fixed activation and adapting it cosmetically for different markets, Art Comes First began with each city.
The methodology was simple:
Understand the place.
↓
Identify the cultural language.
↓
Develop the creative framework.
↓
Invite the community to participate.
↓
Allow the experience to become part of the city rather than simply occupy it.
This resulted in three distinct interpretations of TONES.
NEW YORK
Portraiture · Style · Archive
July 2025 — TONES OF NYC
Context
For New York, Art Comes First explored the relationship between portraiture, personal style and cultural documentation.
The concept referenced the intimate studio traditions of photographers such as Malick Sidibé and Jamel Shabazz, photographers whose work captured not simply clothing, but the identity and attitude of communities.
Approach
ACF developed a Polaroid Photo Studio surrounded by curated archive pieces and artwork.
Visitors entered the environment, were styled by Art Comes First and photographed using Polaroid.
Rather than conventional event photography, the experience was designed as an exchange between subject, clothing, image and place.
The physical Polaroid also gave the participant something tangible to take from the experience.
Alongside the photography, ACF archive pieces introduced audiences to the broader visual and cultural language behind Art Comes First.
ACF Role
Creative Direction · Experience Concept · Archive Curation · Styling · Photography · Art Direction · Cultural Storytelling
Outcome
The activation transformed portraiture into participation. Rather than simply documenting the audience attending TONES of NYC, the audience became part of the visual identity of the programme itself. The result connected fashion, photography and community while creating a physical record of the people inhabiting the space.
LONDON
Archive · Subculture · Craft
September 2025 — TONES OF LONDON
BLACK RIOT
Context
London offered an opportunity for Art Comes First to return to its own creative foundations.
Savile Row craftsmanship, punk tailoring, Rudeboy culture and the relationship between clothing and rebellion became the basis for Black Riot.
The project transformed ACF's archive into a three-day public installation.
Approach
Previously unseen archival Art Comes First leather jackets were presented alongside imagery and references exploring the Original Rudeboys who had influenced ACF's relationship with style, tailoring and subculture.
But Black Riot was intentionally designed to move beyond a conventional retrospective exhibition.
The archive became active.
Visitors could engage with a sustainable DIY workshop incorporating screen-printing and heat-transfer techniques, while live craft interventions and Polaroid portraiture introduced making and personal expression into the environment.
Instead of simply viewing the history of ACF, audiences were invited to enter its creative process.
POLAROID PHOTO STUDIO
The portrait concept developed in New York continued in London.
Visitors were styled and photographed in an environment surrounded by ACF archive works, connecting the individual with the wider history of the exhibition.
COLLABORATIVE PRODUCT
Art Comes First also developed a limited collection of exclusive TONES of London merchandise with COLORS.
100 Members Tees
COLORS and TONES branding, individually numbered and signed by Sam Lambert and Shaka Maidoh
50 More Fire Lighters
50 Stitchline Caps
The limited objects extended the experience beyond the physical installation, functioning as artefacts from the programme.
ACF Role
Creative Direction · Exhibition Curation · Archive Curation · Workshop Direction · Product Development · Graphic Direction · Styling · Photography · Cultural Programming
Outcome
Black Riot transformed archive into experience.
Clothing was not treated simply as an object to be displayed.
Craftsmanship became demonstration.
Archive became conversation.
Customisation became participation.
And the audience was invited to engage directly with the ideas behind the work.
PARIS
Sustainability · Transformation · Cultural Exchange
October 2025 — TONES OF PARIS
BLACK SUPER MARKET
Context
Paris introduced a different cultural conversation.
Rather than beginning with archive, Art Comes First approached the city through sustainability, fashion, transformation and the ability to create new value from existing objects.
For TONES of Paris, Art Comes First presented Black Super Market in collaboration with Marché Noir.
Approach
Black Super Market operated through the principle of Trash to Treasure.
Vintage garments sourced through African markets and existing French workwear were transformed through repair, over-dyeing, visible mending, screen-printing, heat transfer and hand-applied artwork.
The installation combined exhibition, workshop and retail within one environment.
One-of-one garments were presented alongside a dedicated workspace where audiences could further customise pieces themselves.
Rather than hiding the processes behind the product, the process became part of the experience.
A gallery-meets-market aesthetic blurred the boundaries between art installation and retail, while the central shopping-cart installation became a functional and sculptural symbol of Black Super Market.
Music was integrated through a dedicated Voodoogents DJ setup, connecting fashion and making with sound.
Polaroid portraiture extended the experience again, allowing visitors to document themselves wearing customised pieces.
ACF Role
Creative Direction · Cultural Programming · Experience Design · Product Development · Exhibition Curation · Sustainable Design · Workshop Direction · Art Direction · Music Direction · Cultural Storytelling
IN COLLABORATION WITH
Marché Noir Lome Paris
Outcome
Black Super Market turned sustainability from a statement into an action.
Rather than asking visitors simply to consider circular fashion, the programme enabled them to participate directly in repair, customisation and transformation.
Fashion became exhibition.
Retail became workshop.
Waste became material.
The audience became part of the process.
ONE PLATFORM — THREE CULTURAL LANGUAGES
One of the central challenges of international cultural programming is maintaining consistency without flattening local identity.
The TONES programme approached that challenge through philosophy rather than repetition.
The three cities were deliberately different.
NEW YORK
Portraiture & Identity
The city was documented through its people.
LONDON
Archive & Craft
Cultural history became a participatory environment.
PARIS
Sustainability & Transformation
Existing objects became raw material for new cultural expression.
What connected the three experiences was not visual sameness.
It was participation.
Across each programme, audiences were encouraged to move beyond spectatorship.
They could be styled.
Photographed.
Make.
Customise.
Discover.
Listen.
Learn.
And contribute something of themselves to the experience.
CULTURE AS CREATIVE STRATEGY
The COLORSxSTUDIOS collaboration demonstrates a central principle of Art Comes First' consultancy practice:
Culture cannot be programmed effectively from a distance.
Cultural relevance requires an understanding of people, place, history and the communities already shaping a city.
The role of ACF was therefore not simply to decorate venues or introduce cultural references into a predetermined event format.
It was to help create environments in which culture could happen.
Photography, clothing, music, archives, workshops and objects became different tools for answering one question in three different places:
What should TONES feel like here?
PHILOSOPHY
A global platform becomes more culturally relevant when it listens locally.
Art Comes First approached TONES as an opportunity for cultural exchange rather than cultural spectacle.
The objective was not simply to place an audience in front of things.
It was to create environments where people could take part.
To make.
To talk.
To customise.
To listen.
To be photographed.
To discover.
To leave with an experience rather than simply witness one.
CULTURAL & STRATEGIC IMPACT
Across New York, London and Paris, the collaboration helped expand the physical language of TONES beyond the conventional boundaries of a music event.
Art Comes First introduced experiences connecting music with fashion, exhibition-making, photography, craftsmanship, archive and sustainability.
The project also demonstrated ACF's ability to operate across several scales simultaneously.
At the strategic level:
cultural thinking and creative direction.
At the programme level:
exhibitions, workshops and audience participation.
At the physical level:
products, styling, photography, installations and objects.
The result was not one activation reproduced internationally.
It was:
One platform interpreted three different ways.
LEGACY
The 2025 collaboration demonstrated how a global music platform and a multidisciplinary cultural consultancy could work together across cities without sacrificing local identity.
Through New York, London and Paris, Art Comes First helped extend the world of TONES into fashion, photography, art, craftsmanship, sustainability and community.
Each city produced a different expression.
The methodology remained consistent:
Understand the place.
Identify the culture.
Create the framework.
Invite the community in.
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