Ginkgo trees are everywhere in New York City. You can find them scattered throughout Central Park or just around the corner from the Saturdays NYC offices lining the streets. They’re a resilient specimen, standing up to the bitter winters and brutal summers of the city, year in and year out. In the Fall, their delicate, fan-shaped leaves turn bright yellow and drop, blanketing the city sidewalks with a golden hue.
But the Ginkgo tree was not always an NYC inhabitant. 200 million years ago, a prehistoric variation—one hardly dissimilar to its modern evolution—coexisted with dinosaurs, providing them with food and shading them from the sun. Later, humans in ancient China, Japan and Korea would begin cultivating the tree for nourishment and planting them near temples for their auspicious properties—prosperity, longevity, hope and love, to name a few.
Today, the ginkgo tree is just as prevalent in Manhattan as it is in Tokyo or Seoul, and our Fall ‘17 print pays homage to the enduring tree’s cultural and historical significance. You’ll find the Gingko leaf dressed in seasonal colors and emblazoned across our Crosby Button Down Shirt, Timothy Swim Shorts, and Vass Slip-On Shoes, as well as printed on t-shirts, hoodies and tank tops.■