Week 36.
From A to Z with LV to a rapper’s (alcoholic) delight, these things caught our eye this week…
Hennessy x Nas
This year marks the 50th anniversary of Hip Hop which is an excuse for a whole slew of celebratory tie-ins. Most centre around the more obvious product groups – sneakers and skateboards abound – but a more surprising one is a special edition Hennessy V S bottle created with rap legend Nas. The iconic French spirit has a long association with the music genre: it is used as a symbol of opulence and success and has been name-checked in no less than 2500 songs over the years. Nas was born in the same year as hip hop took its first steps but we are sure part of his involvement in this project was how easily his name can be incorporated: this surely will be known as HenNASsy…
Louis Vuitton Alphabet trunks
We heartily approve of any luggage that breaks the mould of generic black nylon suitcases that all look the same but maybe Louis Vuitton have taken individuality one step too far with their latest Alphabet series of trunks. Launched just in time for Christmas, the collection comprises 26 different hard cases, each in the shape of a letter of the alphabet and decked out in the iconic LV monogram. At $8000 a pop, most clients are going to stick with just an initial we imagine but there will be those who want to spell out their full name. On a practical note, packing a W or S-shaped case will be a real test of patience…
Blancpain x Swatch Scuba Fifty Fathoms
Swatch did it again. After a really successful collaboration between two brands under the same group – Swatch and Omega – the brand comes up with yet another one. This time it is with Swiss luxury watchmaker, Blancpain, and presents a bio-ceramic take on one of the earliest and most respected dive watches, Blancpain Fifty Fathoms. Blancpain isn’t that well known, so this collaboration is a great move on how to celebrate the Diver Watch’s 70th anniversary. It comes in five ocean-themed colourways: beige, yellow-orange, blue, green and ice-white, with a very specific depth rating of 91 meters (which equates to exactly fifty fathoms – the depth back then to which it was safely possible to dive). What we like about this release is the fact that Swatch has made it automatic (but note that the mechanism can’t be serviced). It will probably not be as successful as the MoonSwatch, but it could be a fun watch for many.
Duke + Dexter x Playboy
Another week, another anniversary and another collaboration. This time British footwear designers Duke + Dexter have joined with classic men’s ‘lifestyle’ magazine Playboy to celebrate the latter’s 70th anniversary. It’s a rather risky move to associate one brand with an outdated institution that objectifies women so they wisely stuck to placing mostly more abstracted images such as a cut-out Playboy bunny logo or eyes and lips on the front of penny loafers but pin-ups on your shoes is on rather blurry ground in terms of taste we think.
Woodbird x Elka
Collabs come in many forms – from the joining together of two creative visions to the shameless exploitation of a name – but the ones that really make sense are those that involve the design capabilities of one partner being combined with the technical experience of another. A case in point is the new range of rainwear created by Woodbird that uses the expertise of Danish outerwear specialists Elka. As anyone who attended this August’s CPH Fashion Week knows, we all need something that is completely rainproof, even in summer, so this streetwear-nuanced jacket and pants will undoubtedly be a hit with cyclist commuters.
