Alex Katz for J. Crew

Not only is Michelle Obama wearing J. Crew on the cover of Vogue this month, but the company continues raising its profile with its latest Spring 90 ads.

There are a few artists I would literally sell the farm to own, and Alex Katz is one of them (Julian Schnabel and Elizabeth Peyton are others). J. Crew's creative director, Jenna Lyons is also a long-time fan of Katz and according to the retailer, he welcomed the experience to work on this campaign, shooting in his personal studio. Following a theme of "America the Beautiful" for Spring 09, J. Crew was inspired by classic places and people, including San Francisco, Lauren Hutton, Philadelphia's historic train station, Route 66 and lastly, Katz. This type of association has happened before (Jasper Johns in Vogue, Warhol for Polaroid, GAP's crazy Khaki ads of the 90s-- remember "Jackson Pollack wore Khakis") but Katz is seldom in the commercial spotlight, making this campaign appear more sincere and authentic than many. Plus he's just great. I want to look at his artwork every day. Maybe one day . . .