Is it just me, or are designer collaborations becoming more frequent?
It seems that in the past few years we’ve seen such a steady increase in the number of luxury brand partnerships that I’ve honestly begun to lose count. What use to be the occasional limited edition Louis Vuitton collab has now turned into a barrage of Gucci X Balenciaga, Fendi X Skims, Telfar X Converse, Dior X Stussy, Gucci X The North Face and so and so forth.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but I remember a time when something from a brand like Gucci or Fendi had enough prestige to stand out on its own. What changed?
Of course, collaborations happened sometimes, but much more infrequently and always within the same category of the apparel market. Now we don’t just see high-end brands occasionally linking up with direct competitors but crossing over into completely new segments of the fashion market to get their name in front of a new group of consumers.
But why did this start happening?
I have a few thoughts.
Newer, Faster, Better
Now I’m only making an educated guess, but there are a couple of potential reasons that came to mind when I was thinking about why the number of collabs seemed to have increased:
If it’s a high-end brand collaborating with another high-end brand, it could potentially be a way to solve the problem of look-a-like designs. Almost every brand has some kind of crossbody flap bag, so slapping another brand’s name or insignia on it is a surefire way to set both brands apart from the rest.
Streetwear and fast fashion brands have started to give high-end brands a run for their money, forcing them to adapt to consumers’ constant demand for newness.
Most people don’t strictly wear designer clothing, and it’s not uncommon for people to mix high-end with mid-range or low-end. A luxury brand collaborating with a beloved mid-range brand keeps the high-end brand from falling too far into the category of “special occasion” wear or being seen as something exclusively for the (declining) privileged few.
But when did this all start?
Thinking Back…
If I had to pinpoint when this whole era of constant collaboration began, I’d probably say sometime around 2017 (again, please correct me if you disagree.) Why?
Probably because of the brand, Supreme.
The Supremely Saturated Market
Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t dislike Supreme; I think it’s young and fun. However, Supreme showed us (and the luxury execs) that if people think a brand is cool enough, creative teams could put the brand name or logo on literally anything, and people would still buy it and be willing to pay high-end prices to boot.
At some point, anything that the Supreme logo graced became an instant collector’s item that “hypebeast” fashion lovers couldn’t wait to get their hands on.
I’m not saying that this is a good or a bad thing, just that if I was the head of XYZ luxury brand, I’d definitely start paying attention.
Risky Business
All in all, there are some brand collaborations that I do really like (usually those that promote the work of visual artists.) I still think the 2020 Fendi X Joshua Vides collection is to die for.
I guess I just hope that our favorite brands’ don’t get too caught up in their attempts at staying fresh and risk losing their own identities in the increasingly intermixed global fashion industry.
What do you all think?
Are you down for all these designer collabs, or are some brands now relying a little too much on the namesake of others to bolster their own image? What’s been your favorite or least favorite collab so far? Do any pieces have special places in your collection?
I prefer a collaboration between an artist and a brand rather than collaborations between brands.
They’re always insanely logo filled. I get it, that’s how they “prove”/show the collab but no thanks, not for me
It’s very tacky imo
I’m not a fan. They look like tacky knockoffs.
I think every brands just wants to increase their sale and get more young generations.
I don’t mind some collaboration projects but it seems like too many of them and nothing surprise me at all……..
I like what I like, it doesn’t matter if it is collaboration or not.
i like when they designers collaborate with a brand that makes their style accessible at a price point that most ppl can afford, i love a good target collab. But when people are just sharing logos with each other like the gucci/ balengiaca collab i just think it’s uninspired and pretty lazy. That’s why, as someone else wrote, the artist collabs are fun, they change things up a bit in a way that’s actually new and adds value
I must be the oldest one around, because I would say collaborations were started by H&M back in 2004 with Karl Lagerfeld, Stella McCartney the year after, Viktor&Rolf and so on… I think it brings visibility to the brand in a group target that is not theirs but makes them aspirational and who knows, potentially buyers in the future.
As in general, I tend to agree that an artist brings something to the collaboration that is just not there when collaboration between brands (thinking Kusama and Vuitton for instance)
One of my fav mass market collabs was the 2011 Missoni – Target collab. It had really cute things and I sooo wanted that Missoni bicycle!
OMG — the Fendi X Joshua Vides collection was insane!! Love, love, love. I also fell hard for the Gucci x Balenciaga items. I say keep them coming!
Coming up: Chanel x H&M. Hermes x Zara.
Nope.
are we willfully ignoring almost 2 decades of designers collaborating before the LV/Supreme collection?
for me it depends on who are the collaborators, Fendi did a few good ones BEFORE Kim Jones joined.
although if we are starting the calendar on that LVS collab I would say is more of an issue of KJ being a little lazy and wanting to subcontract part of his job since most of the most publicized designer collabs since then have happened under him: Supreme, Skims, Sacai, Stüssy, Sorayama, Scott, Scharf, Kaws, VerSace, (srsly, what’s with this man and S’s?) etc. Stüssy: gorgerous. Fendace: yuck. but enough complaining about the biggest culprit of designer collaborations resulting in accessories. Moncler is generally good and Converse has been putting out a decent stream of them beyond the classic CDG hearts, Missonni zigzags, and JWA windowpane logos (KJ included)
It really depends on how it comes out! Like, Gucci x Balenciaga was a no for me, but Fendace is a hell yes!!!