Fashion's Obsession With Unconventional Collaborations

The fashion industry has increasingly welcomed odd and surprising collaborations in the past years, which have successfully attracted customers' attention and increased overall engagement with brands. These collabs have allowed brands to attract a new clientele as well as spread brand awareness. Take, for example, Travis Scott's recent collab with McDonald's. Since when is McDonald's fashionable?? Despite a somewhat unconventional fashion collab, the collection sold out, and Mcdonalds saw 5x more engagement on their Instagram when posting about the collab. This seems to be a successful business model.

Customers who went to McDonald’s were able to buy the Travis $6 meal deal, including a quarter pounder with cheese and bacon, medium French fries, bbq sauce, and a sprite. Travis' go-to McDonald’s order. Nothing particularly spectacular. However, the meal deal came with a limited edition merch drop, including t-shirts, jackets, hoodies, and even homeware items like a McNuggets pillow. All the items are sold out and are currently being resold for thousands on websites like Grailed.

It’s interesting to think about customer behavior and, ultimately, the value of limited edition collabs for brands. In McDonald's’ case, they gained new customers, specifically Gen Z, and new brand credibility. In light of the success that Mcdonalds saw with the Travis collab, McDonald’s just launched a new collab with J Balvin in an attempt to reciprocate the same success. McDonald's is recognizing that Gen Z is interested in seeing different brands work together that the key to growing their business and increasing revenues is through these types of creative ventures.

Although fashion collabs, not just McDonald’s, have been widely successful, there is still a limit to what a customer will accept. Fundamentally, the two collaborating brands need to share the same values and present some story to the customer. The notion of getting a celebrity to slap their name on a product doesn't suffice to secure a successful collab. For example, Travis has a strong connection to McDonald’s because he remembers eating it all the time as a kid. Equally, by creating the 6 dollar meal deal, he let his fans into his life and shared a unique/personal detail of who he is as a person. The hoodies and advertisements themselves tried to engage the customer by using the slogan "What's up the world- yeah, You! I'm Travis Scott. This is my McDonald's order."

It appears that collabs are not about finding two brands with similar aesthetics but rather radically different aesthetics and, through that, engaging new customers. The success of collabs is seen across the industry. We must only look to Virgil Abloh, who is notorious for countless collabs with brands like Ikea or Evian—brands one wouldn't immediately associate with high fashion.

Producing capsule collections and having limited edition drops exponentially increases the Hype around a product. The customer feels that if they don't buy it now, they will never have it as there is only so much available stock. For example, one of Travis' McDonald's rugs is retailing for 2500 dollars on Grailed right now. That's only because it can't be found anywhere else and will never be sold again. Beyond this, we can look at previous success models such as the Moncler Genius launch, which features limited-edition drops and collabs with designers like Raf Simmons or Simone Rocha. This business model has proved extremely successful for Moncler because customers feel the need to buy it now or lose out. It's as if customers have fashion FOMO.

Other interesting collabs include Hm and Versace, Crocs and Christopher Kane, Supreme—which puts its name on pretty much anything: a brick, MetroCard, calculators—Juicy Couture and Vetements, World food program and Balenciaga. The one thing they all have in common? They were so successful that each collection sold out. Ultimately, it will be interesting to see what new collabs will appear in the future and how the business model of unconventional collabs will continue to be implemented throughout the industry.

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A Colourful Collab: STAUD and New Balance

In the middle of spring and approaching summer, we typically trade our neutrals, white, and black, wardrobe for pops of colour. STAUD and New Balance have recently launched a collaboration combining modern tailoring with classic athleticism and comfort. Collaborations between trendy on-the-rise brands and established favourites are usually a hit-or-miss. This collab is definitely one to keep an eye out for.

STAUD is a brand from LA is known for its vibrant hues and modern fitted clothing.

Designer Sarah Staudinger cites her muses as Princess Diana in her gym clothes and Susan Sarandon sporting New Balance sneakers in Cannes.

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Here are a few stunning pieces from this collection:

1. A colour-blocked take on an iconic shoe.

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2. A jumpsuit not just for gymnastics

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3. This two-piece set that is both retro and modern

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This collection reminds us to shed our wintry, dark, and neutral pieces for fresher and more playful colours, fits, and sets.

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Top 10 Fashion Collabs of the Last Ten Years

With 2020 approaching, MODA Blog rounds up the best, worst, and most iconic phenoms of the 2010s.

In recent years, it seems that fashion houses have begun to realize the potential to create objects of unparalleled beauty with the help of creatives in other fields. Though the link between fashion and art may be apparent to millennials and those even younger, the idea of collaboration across the fields of fashion and art were relatively rare before the 21st century. Beginning in the 2000’s, however, collaborations in creative industries became commonplace thanks to a combination of the artistic potential and the generally positive reaction from consumers. It is with this potential for greatness in mind that we present the top ten fashion collabs of the last decade.

Number 1: Louis Vuitton x Takashi Murakami:

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Though it is true that the relationship between Murakami and Louis Vuitton began back in 2003 with the introduction of the Murakami Multicolor Monogram collection, the close relationship between Murakami and Louis Vuitton lasted for over 13 years, extending into 2015. Chances are, even if you didn’t know Takashi Murakami collaborated with Louis Vuittion, you are familiar with the now iconic and always lusted after Multicolor Monogram bags. These bags not only defined a decade and a half of style, being worn by the likes of Paris Hilton, Jennifer Lopez, and Kim Kardashian, but they also legitimized future collaborations between artists and household name fashion giants such as Louis Vuitton.

Number 2: Louis Vuitton x Supreme:

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Having essentially created the evergreen trend of designer collaborations, it only makes sense that Louis Vuittion should appear on this list multiple times, and the Louis Vuitton x Supreme collaboration was just as earth-shattering as the Murakami collaboration, if not as enduring. First debuted at Paris Fashion Week in 2017, the Supreme x Louis Vuitton capsule came at the height of Supreme’s mainstream relevance, and undoubtedly widened the brand’s audience. Notably, this collaboration was launched first at pop-up locations across the world rather than in stores, demonstrating Louis Vuitton & Supreme’s willingness to adapt to the ways in which young people now shop.

Number 3: Moschino x H&M:

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Under Jeremy Scott, Creative Director of the brand since the end of 2013, Moschino has become a go-to brand for aesthetically conscious youth who identify with Moschino’s bear motif and phone cases that elevate daily household objects to forms of art. For this collaboration, both H&M and Moschino had to pull out all the stops, with H&M dramatically raising their quality standards and Scott stretching the limits of his diverse but always recognizable style. The resulting pieces were a pleasing blend of grunge and high fashion glamour, with strong undertones of youthful rebellion. The relatively low prices for the collection were a plus, too.

Number 4: Gucci x Dapper Dan:

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This particular story is an interesting one. Dapper Dan is and  has been an iconic African American streetwear designer based in Harlem, New York since the 1970s, counting celebrities and drug lords among his clientele. Dapper Dan was known largely for incorporating popular design houses logos into his clothes, and the iconic Gucci double G was among his favorites. This led Alessandro Michele, creative director at Gucci since 2015, to create a jacket that paid homage to a particularly famous Dapper Dan design without crediting him. Perhaps ironically, Dapper Dan and his followers were angry about what seemed like a stolen idea rather than an homage, and later in 2017, Gucci formally partnered with Dapper Dan on a line of clothes and eventually even opened a store with him in his native Harlem.

Number 5: Chanel x Pharrell:

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The Chanel Pharrell collection, which debuted for Spring/Summer 2019, is the quintessential example of a daring and successful collaboration. With Chanel moving away from its decidedly haute couture and formal focus, and Pharrell channeling his propensity for beautiful music into beautiful clothes, this collaboration was a risky but ultimately successful move on the part of both parties. Replete with bright colors, bedazzled logos, and a range of tactile materials, the Chanel Pharrell collection was a comprehensive take on luxe streetwear and has accordingly been worn by the likes of Lil Uzi Vert and Young Thug.

Number 6: Dior x Hajime Sorayama:

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Under the creative direction of Kim Jones since 2018, Dior Homme has arguably been the fashion label most open to collaborations with intriguing artists, counting Daniel Arsham and Hajime Sorayama among them. The Fall/Winter 2019 collaboration between Dior Homme and Hajime Soroyama, though not expected, seemed rather natural; pairing Soroyama’s retro-futuristic aesthetics with Dior’s legendary oblique print on shoes, shirts, and accessories, this collaboration brought a rugged and utopian vision to the house of Dior rendered in plastic and highly polished metal. Standouts from this collaboration included an industrial and futuristic revisit of the iconic Saddle Bag, originally the work of John Galliano, as well as a fantastic take on the B23 shoe.

Number 7: Chanel x Audemars Piguet:

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Perhaps the unlikeliest collaboration on this entire list, the Chanel x Audemars Piguet collaboration is also arguably one of the most exciting. Ever since being launched in 1999, the Chanel J12 has been a must-have watch for celebrities and the fashionably conscious. Rendered in shiny ceramic, a shiny and surprisingly resilient material, the J12 was legendary in almost every way, lacking only a horologically sophisticated movement to match the sophisticated design. Luckily, in 2008, the famed watchmaker which needs no introduction, Audemars Piguet, stepped up and fit their well known mechanical Calibre 3125 movement to the J12, finally satisfying all of the requirements for a truly special watch. To distinguish the Calibre 3125 J12 from the standard J12 which comes in only black and white ceramic, the Caliber 3125 was cast in shiny black ceramic with 18k rose gold accents, and later editions of the watch were made in matte black ceramic.

Number 8: Burberry x Vivienne Westwood:

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Uniting the historic English fashion house Burberry with the iconic English club-kid/punk rock oriented aesthetic of Vivienne Westwood was a move that fans of each brand will look upon fondly for years to come. Having risen to fame in the 1970s with the English punk rock movement, it is surprising that a collaboration between Vivenne Westwood and Burberry did not come about until late 2018. Featuring Burberry’s check motif overlaid with environmentally focused words written by Westwood, the collection carried a high-fashion political message while supporting the U.K. nonprofit Cool Earth. The full range of campaign photos and videos released for this collaboration are well worth a look.

Number 9: Jean Paul Gaultier x Hermès:

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As the Creative Director of Hermès from 2003 to 2011, the daring Jean Paul Gaultier injected excitement into one of the world's most respected and sought after leather goods brands. Though it is a stretch to call the Shadow Birkin a collaboration since Gaultier was the Creative Director of Hermès when he created it, I like to think of it as a collaboration because it unites the quirky aesthetic of Gaultier while modifying Hermès’ most famous item, the Birkin. Keeping the shape of the traditional Birkin, Gaultier removed the functionality of the flap and left the imprint of the sangles (the locking arms) on the front of the bag, without allowing them any functional purpose, hence the name Shadow Birkin. Perhaps more than any other of Gaultier’s contributions during his 8 year tenure at Hermès, the Shadow Birkin left an indelible mark on the brand.

Number 10: Louis Vuitton x Memphis Group:

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Rounding out the list is another collection that isn’t a collaboration in the strictest sense. For the Spring 2019 women’s ready to wear collection, Nicolas Ghesquière drew inspiration from the work of Memphis Group, a now largely dissolved postmodernist design collective established in the 1980’s and led by the fabulously creative Ettore Sottsass. This collaboration is very dear to my heart, as the products of Memphis Group have been an obsession of mine for several years. Ghesquière employed the use of bright colors, geometric 80s patterns, and bulky architecture to pay homage to the Group and the late Sotsass, and the final product was exceptional not only for the beauty of the clothes in themselves, but also for the fact that Ghesquière intentionally brought the legacy of Memphis Group to a younger audience.

So there’s our list. Which collab is your favorite and which did we leave out?

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