any collaboration in the fashion world is exciting and refreshing. most recently a string of collaboration pop-up (temporary) shops have sprung up across the globe, including the Colette x Gap store in New York and Commes De Garcons x Louis Vuitton store in Tokyo.
(Colette x Gap store, NY; Commes x Louis Vuitton store, Tokyo)
throughout the past few years in particular, the collaborations between designers, or between brands, or between designer and mass brands in particular, has shook up the fashion world and allowed for new and innovative designs to be developed.
one of the most successful collaborations to date is the Y3 brand that has been birthed out of the incredible partnership between Adidas and Yohji Yamamoto. despite my lack of love for sportswear, Y3 happens to be carry some of my favourite pieces, and is a personal favourite of mine. it combines yamamoto's avant garde sensibility with adidas material and technology. each product is thus both fashionably aesthetic and 100% functional.
(Y-3 SS/09 Collection)
other successful sportswear/footwear and designer relationships include stella mccartney for adidas, mihara yasuhiro AND alexander mcqueen for puma and most recently raf simmons for dr martens (ss 09). we take all these established and respectable designers and what their design aesthetic is supplemented by the mass appeal of brand they design for. personally i LOVE the mihara for puma collection, but i still believe in mihara's own product line more. but raf simmons for dr martens is an extremely promising collection (albeit somewhat different from the other brands since this collection looks to be a one off instead of a sustained partnership) because what it does is it fuses the adventurism and innovation of raf simmon and the wearablity and trustablity of the dr marten brand.
(mihara yasuhiro x puma FW/08)
(Raf Simmons x Dr Martens SS/09)
related to this sort of collaboration is when a designer comes up with a line of accessories for a brand, such as Kris Van Assche for Oliver Peoples. combining the masculine new world aesthetic of the Dior Hommehead designer with the trendiness and cult-sensibility of Oliver Peoples, the range of sunglasses is incredibly chic with its interchangeable lenses, and they potentially are able to establish themselves as classics.
(Kris Van Assche x Oliver Peoples)
another type of designer collaboration is exemplified by takashi murakami for louis vuitton. like with philippe starck for fossil (see entry on watches 01) , takashi murakami is an artiste by trade, and what he brings is a unique an very beautifully abstract concept to fashion table. by thinking out of the fashion world, it gains artistic value and thus makes it an even more covetable fashion object. it's a strange yet completely understandable fashion paradox. what makes this all the more exciting is the fact that there is a sense of internationalism in the design, merging the french aesthetic of LV with the japanese vision of murkami.
(Takashi Murukami x Louis Vuitton Monogram Camoflauge)
but perhaps my favourite kind of designer collaboration is between a designer and a mass fashion brand. most of the time, a designer hooks up with a mass fashion label to create a line or what we call a capsule collection. this is unlike Kim Jones who is now designing for Alfred Dunhill, where an already established cult designer is hired to oversee the design for an entire line. same can be said for marc jacobs and louis vuitton.
capsule collections have their appeal in their overt "trendiness". because they only exist for that moment, the items become that much more "necessary". the dozen or so items created by the designer for the line are supposed to be interchangeably worn as separates as as an entire outfit, combining the elements of high fashion design with street practicality and affordablity. perhaps the most successful mass label that has embraced the concept of designer capsule collections is swedish clothing company H&M. it has worked with many of the members of fashion royalty including Chanel legend Karl Lagerfeld, jil sander's Raf Simmon, sutch design team Viktor & Rolf, spice girl favourite Roberto Cavalli, and american sweetheart Stella McCartney. each collection has turned out to be such instant sell-outs that some collections have reportedly been snapped up within an hour of it's launch.
(H&M Collaborations: top left clockwise - Roberto Cavalli at a fitting, Karl Lagerfeld ads,
Viktor & Rolf men's look, queue at Stella McCartney's debut)
which brings me to the two most buzzed about collaborations today. without a doubt, H&M's upcoming collaboration with Commes De Garcons (in stores November) is first on that list. there are many interesting things about this collaboration. for one, Rei Kawakubo, the powerhouse behind the japanese brand, does not seem to compromise any of the famous Commes aesthetic. with her, it's all about deconstruction mixed with independent and exaggerated silhouettes and those famous Commes painted polka dots. in all honesty, i find it hard to see the what H&M adds to this collection. it's almost as if Commes just found a new place to design and produce a line. price wise, there isn't a significant difference between the high-fashion price tag of Commes and no longer affordable prices of this new H&M collaboration. but i say cheers to Commes because it has probably gotten the sweeter end of the deal, increases it's marketability through the use of H&M's marketing resources and brand. H&M of course stands to gain too as it has truly established itself as the most fashion forward mass fashion label to date.
(Commes des Garcons x H&M)
another of the collaborations i look forward to is the Lanvin and Acne partnership. this capsule collection is beyond chic and the men's line in particular is super successful. combining the high-fashion brand Lanvin with the cult-denim label Acne, the collection manages to find a wonderful sophistication with jeans and denim. the clothes are truly amazing, and is centered around the idea of "making denim more desirable". i am completely feeling the romanticism of denim in the design, particularly with regards to the casual cool of those awesome denim shorts.
(Lanvin x Acne menswear collection)
(Standout Piece : Lanvin luxury meets Acne denim in a hightop sneaker)
yet, as much as i want to believe that fashion collaborations are purely motivated by artistic visions and craft appreciation, i know this is not so. a lot of the collaborations are mere products of acute business acumen, where brands constantly want to upgrade themselves and their image, whilst efficiently increasing their market with shared marketing and new product development (wow i never thought i'd actually get to use things i learnt duringstudied for IB Business class ever!). still, it's nice to believe in the spirit of collaborations and at the end of the day, the inspiration is still there. genuine or not, i'll buy it.
Original source: http://retardationality.wordpress.com/?p=47
