Teamwork Makes the Dreamwork
Fashion as we know, has a particular way of repeating itself, a way of making something old into something new, taking something from the past and making it futuristic. I mean have you seen the low-rise miniskirts, and extra low-rise pants coming out, if you haven’t just have a look see at Miu Miu’s latest collection, whew chile! You know I could do that back in the day but the new older me is not going there, I’ll stick to my high-rise pieces, thank you very much! So, what happens when designers want something different, something innovative, something never seen before? Or better yet, think from this perspective, if I can’t think of something new, maybe I’ll seek a little help elsewhere. Great minds do tend to think alike!
Brands/Designers have been collaborating for years, but it usually has been more high meets low, luxury and high street, luxury and streetwear, some luxury designers collaborating with artist, some collaborating on cars, some collaborating with athletic shoe brands, luggage (Rimowa x Fendi, Rimowa x Dior) and even furniture, but for luxury designers to collaborate with each other, GASP!!!
Well, 2021 was the year of the luxury designer collaborations, I mean we had Fendace (Fendi and Versace), where designer Kim Jones of Fendi swapped places with Donatella Versace and created lines for each other. We had the Gucci X Balenciaga “hack”, which was aaamaazzzing, and there was even a Louis Vuitton and NBA collab.
So far in 2022, Gucci has released a collaboration with Adidas for their Fall/Winter 2022 collection, who would have thought. Jimmy Choo and Mugler have collaborated, and yes I love. Balmain has released a collab with the pint-sized plastic queen herself, Barbie, and let’s not forget (even though we may want to) Yeezy Gap X Balenciaga.
But let’s go back, collaborations between high- and low-end brands have been going on since the early 2000’s, when Karl Lagerfeld did a collab with H&M and since then H&M has been pulling in the designer brands, giving some of us mere mortals access to high end designer clothing. Okay well perhaps not high end, but it gives you the look, the aesthetic of the designer brand. You get to own a little piece of Giambattista Valli, Stella McCartney, Roberto Cavalli, Jimmy Choo or even Versace. And like designer collabs the pieces are limited, so you must be quick with the purchase. The next collab they have coming up is with fashion icon Iris Apfel in April. Target is another store over the years, that has given us a taste of high meets low end.
Some other brand collabs that came about that I know I would have never thought of seeing together, Converse and Telfar, Jil Sander and Birkenstock, and even Maison Margiela and Reebok, and most recently there has been Jimmy Choo X Timberland, Gucci X North Face, Fendi X Skims and Louis Vuitton X Nike. Some higher end collabs were Hérmes x Apple (watch) and Louis Vuitton x Supreme, which is now considered a luxury brand thanks to LV.
Also, I’m going off on a tangent here, but what is up with everyone wanting to collab with Crocs??!! Crocs really!!
Yes, I’m a Crocs hater, but over the years they have had collabs with Christopher Kane, Bad Bunny, Kurt Geiger, Justin Beiber, and of course Balenciaga.
Now here’s a question, do collaborations between and high- and low-end brands bring down a luxury brand, can it in the long run hurt the brand? Because let’s be real, luxury brands are all about exclusivity and quality. In my personal opinion, I don’t think so, not in the long run anyway. Because again, when these collections are dropped, everything is limited, it creates this frenzy of, I got to have it because it’s never going to happen again, this I’ll be one of the few people to have it, that in itself creates exclusivity.
Let’s look at some Pros and Cons:
Pros: (1) Well obviously one is money, designer brands can get a pretty substantial amount of money for their collaborations. (2) Luxury brands open themselves up to a wider audience, gaining new publicity and awareness to their brand. Consumers who may have never heard of the brand before now know they are out there. (3) Attention now brings new customers, and yes people who shop at H&M also shop at Neimans and Saks.
Cons: (1) It could possibly bring down the value of the brand. People who do normally buy luxury designer brands may no longer want to purchase because it’s no longer exclusive. (2) What if the collection fails horribly, bringing negative attention to the brand, which could turn some people away. (3) Quality, even though the clothing is designed by a high-end/ luxury designer, you know the quality will not be quite the same as their higher end pieces.
In my humble opinion, I honestly think that collaborations are great. They bring new light to a brand, giving people something different from the normal things they would expect, new and exciting. I mean when Gucci and Balenciaga got together, it was like WOW and immediately everyone wanted to know when the collection would drop. Then there were whispers about the pieces not actually being released, that the whole thing was a “hack” to bring about excitement for GUCCI’s 100 year anniversary, which then created more hype around it. And when it was finally released, everything was limited, and most items were sold out just as quickly as they were released. Now everyone is waiting for the Fendace collection, which should be releasing soon, since it was a Spring/Summer collection.
What’s your opinion, more collabs or less, and if more, should it be high/low or more high/high? I’m actually interested in seeing if more luxury brands will get together and create collections, I’m here for it, my wallet may not be, but I am!
"High and low isn't such a novelty thing, it's how young people interpret the life we've been given. It's how we look at luxury brands, it's how we look at heritage brands." —Virgil Abloh