What distinguishes the guitar case (and the matching guitar straps) in the most recent Wrangler x Fender collection is that, when it comes to the legacies of both brands, this stuff … strikes all the right chords. The case especially stands out from the usual co-branded merch because it’s a costly item (retail price: $249) that was not easy to make.
Music and denim
The idea for the collaboration between the two brands originated when Wrangler’s marketing department was planning around a milestone approaching in 2022.
“As part of our 75th anniversary, we had a couple of activations that we did with Live Nation,” Wrangler’s vp of global brand marketing Holly Wheeler recalled. “And then [we thought], ‘Hey, if we’re going to talk about music, we’re going to talk about rock and roll—and what’s the most iconic guitar in rock and roll? It’s a Fender. So that’s kind of where it started.”
The Fender collaboration—both the 2022 apparel collection and the current one—taps into a somewhat lesser-known part of Wrangler’s music legacy. While country music fans have seen Wranglers on stage for years (Dwight Yoakam and George Strait are among the brand’s many loyal wearers), a host of music legends in other genres have worn Wrangler, too—Bob Marley, John Lennon, Mick Jagger and Blondie, to name a few.
When Queen front man Freddie Mercury took the stage at Live Aid in 1985—performing before a global audience of 1.9 billion people—he wore Wrangler jeans.
This sort of history elevates a merchandise line above a garden-variety cross licensing deal, Bussey said: “It felt like a natural partnership because of the legacy of artists who wore Wrangler.”
The case for the case
Inspiration for the apparel came from sifting through photos from Fender’s archives, including old advertising. Gradually, the visuals “started to inspire the design team,” Wheeler said. “You’ve got these really cool ’80s wash trends, lace-up denim and fringe—all of those things work from both a rock and roll and a Fender perspective.”
Guitar accessories like paisley-print straps and tortoise shell picks grew naturally from these sessions, too. But Bussey was determined to create a marquee item.
“We thought, ‘What is cool about a guitar case? It holds a guitar. What is cool about Wrangler? All the accoutrements of it.’ We can smear the two together. I always like to make peanut butter and jelly ideas,” Bussey said.