Often fashion houses go beyond clothing, footwear and accessories, promoting their own philosophy and selling a lifestyle. Versace sells a gilded ashtray and porcelain with a baroque print, Brunello Cucinelli sells tic-tac-toe and lobster tongs, Gucci sells a velvet armchair and embroidered pillow, and Hermès sells a bookcase and a bedside table. However, not all luxury brands have the capacity to create items that are not related to their core business, which forces them to turn to third-party manufacturers of furniture, appliances, food, drinks and sports equipment. Such collaborations not only make it possible to offer the client to buy goods in one place, but also serve as almost the strongest marketing tool and a way to raise the cost of a thing several times. Fashion brands also benefit from the fact that their collaboration is just a matter of sharing a brand print or logo. This is how branded basketballs, yoga mats, and even smartphones appear that, while they seem pointless, never cease to be less desirable.
Virgil abloh x evian
The founder of Off-White, creative director of the men's line of Louis Vuitton and “the king of collaborations”, as French Vogue once called Virgil Abloh, has been collaborating with the producer of mineral water Evian for several years. In 2018, he was appointed as the company's creative consultant, responsible not only for bottle design, but also for their sustainability. Since then, Abloh has introduced a reusable glass bottle with a bamboo lid and silicone case, a plastic bubble that deflates as water is consumed, and a deliberately deformed recycled plastic bottle. The fact that the idol of millennials, for whom the protection of the environment is especially important, took part in their development, is indicated only by his name, modestly indicated on the packaging. This does not prevent the sale of bottles at an immodest price: on resale platforms they ask for an average of 3,500 rubles,while at the official points of sale - for example, on the Matchesfashion website - the products are out of print.
Water bottle, collaboration Virgil Abloh X Evian © press service
Supreme x oreo
Every year we feel like the American brand Supreme has put its logo on everything it can. But the champion of guerrilla marketing doesn't pass us on by surprise. The branded shovel, the money launcher and even the brick were followed by Oreo cookies, created by Supreme in collaboration with the confectionery company Nabisco and included in the collection for the spring-summer 2020 season. Four days after the sweets went on sale, their value soared 2,100 times, to $ 17 thousand. The excitement was not so much the unprecedented red color of Oreo as the limited edition of the collaboration, which made it a collectible. In the case of Supreme, as brand founder James Jebbia explained, buying a rare item like this means joining a club of like-minded people who share the same cultural knowledge, incomprehensible and inaccessible to others.
Cookies, Supreme X Oreo Collaboration © press service
Alexander Wang X Trojan
In 2018, American designer Alexander Wang launched a capsule collection in support of the LGBT community. It includes T-shirts, caps, bandanas and socks with the words "Protect Your Wang" ("Protect your Wang"), as well as condoms, created in conjunction with the contraceptive manufacturer Trojan. They were handed out free of charge from a branded platform that became part of the "Equality March" at the New York gay pride parade. After the event, Trojan condoms bearing the name of the designer appeared on resale platforms, where they are still available for $ 18-35. It is important that next to every item on Ebay there is a note that it is “brand new”.
Condom, collaboration Alexander Wang X Trojan © press service
Dolce & Gabbana X Pastificio di Martino
Pasta is as integral to Italian culture as Dolce & Gabbana. In 2017, they merged with Pastificio di Martino, one of the oldest pasta producers in the country. The company sorted the branded spaghetti, cannelloni and penne into 5,000 packs, which Dolce & Gabbana adorned with authentic ornaments and images of landmarks, from the Colosseum to the Grand Canal. The idea was so liked by locals and tourists (they bought pasta despite the price of $ 110) that the brands decided to continue their cooperation and expand it with other types of pasta. Today they are available not only in standard packaging, but also in a metal gift box with the Dolce & Gabbana logo. For the presentation of the pasta, the fashion brand organizes social events in Milan,where he also shows a collaboration with Smeg: mixers, toasters and kettles.
Pasta, collaboration Dolce & Gabbana X Pastificio di Martino © press service
Saint Laurent X Greenfix
In August 2020, Saint Laurent expanded its Rive Droite collection with leisure and party items: boombox, camera, slot machine, ice cube trays and cocktail straws. At the same time, the brand reminded that the consequences of stormy nights must be worked out by diluting the range with sports equipment and little things: a tennis racket, a flying disc, a yoga mat, a helmet for martial arts and a surfboard. In addition to the latter, it is proposed to purchase a wax that provides the necessary grip of the feet with the board, created by Saint Laurent in cooperation with the eco-friendly brand Greenfix. Although they will have to creak reluctantly on the surface: the coveted branding, which increases the cost of simple wax tenfold, is erased instantly.
Surf wax, collaboration Saint Laurent X Greenfix © press service
Ambush X Nike X NBA
Towards the end of last year, founder of Japanese brand Ambush and creative director of jewelry at Dior Homme, Yoon Ahn, unveiled a collaboration with Nike and the National Basketball Association (NBA), becoming the first woman to collaborate with her. In addition to the Los Angeles Lakers and Brooklyn Nets logos, jackets, trousers and long sleeves, the range includes a basketball. Despite the fact that it differs from the standard one only by the image of the Nike Swoosh and the Ambush brand logo, the ball was sold out both in the official stores of the brands and on many resale platforms, where it got overpriced.
Basketball, collaboration Ambush X Nike X NBA © press service
Thom Browne X Samsung
Collaboration between fashion brands and electronics companies is nothing new: LG made a phone with Prada, Apple a watch with Hermès, and Master & Dynamic a headphone with Louis Vuitton. However, the collaboration of the New York brand Thom Browne and the South Korean corporation Samsung, presented in 2020, included not one, but several devices at once: the Galaxy Z Flip clamshell smartphone, the Galaxy Watch Active 2 watch and the Galaxy Buds + headphones, a set of which is available from official distributors. available for 199,990 rubles. at the cost of the classic Galaxy Z Flip 89,990 rubles.
Samsung was responsible for the technical part (bending ultra-thin glass, ultra-sensitive sensors, an immersive screen and video shooting using artificial intelligence), and Thom Browne was responsible for the appearance of the device (corporate gray, red, white and blue stripes, architectural design and the sound of boots on marble floor among the ringtones), which partly explains its high cost and attractiveness for dealers. The collaboration partners themselves explained the high cost by the fact that they sell not just a smartphone, headphones and watches, but a lifestyle.
Smartphone, Thom Browne X Samsung collaboration © press service
Heron Preston X Very Important Puppies
Dog apparel brand Very Important Puppies recently teamed up with Deckers Brands to produce the first ugg boots for four-legged pets. However, this is far from his most interesting collaboration. In 2018, Very Important Puppies hired American designer Heron Preston, who designed not only suits, leashes and collars, but also a set of eco-friendly hygiene bags. Judging by the fact that some distributors have quickly acquired the "poop bags" for $ 26 "sold-out" status, it is much more pleasant to collect the results of walking the dog in a package labeled "Style".
A set of hygiene bags for dogs, collaboration Heron Preston X Very Important Puppies © press service