We can’t get enough of J. Crew, and not just because they take color nomenclature dead seriously. First they shot an entire catalogue at Richard Neutra‘s legendary Kauffman House. Then they named a skirt after Lee Krasner (which was all the enticement we needed to purchase it, at full price no less). Now they’ve convinced artist Alex Katz to model for them. In a deal that will surely keep him and Ada in free chinos for life, Katz appears throughout the new spring J. Crew catalog (as well as on the cover of the men’s catalog and in giant images in store windows) dressed in such J. Crew garments as the “Secret Wash” button-down, classic-fit pinstripe pant, and Italian suede “Sydney shoes” while relaxing in his studio. And while they didn’t recruit any leading female contemporary artists to model the women’s collection (note to Cindy Sherman: do think it over!), the J. Crew website explains that on the women’s side, they’ve “created an entirely new color vocabulary combining the pop art of Warhol, Lichtenstein, and Hockney with the dreamy impressionist work of Manet, Monet, and Degas,” before adding modestly, “The result is a collection that’s a work of art in itself.”

Previously on UnBeige: