These days collaborations are a great strategy for marketing, and brands are joining forces to increase sales, refresh products, and bring a new aesthetic of a collection. 2018 was, without a doubt, one filled with interesting and exciting collaborations. Here are WindowsWear’s best collaborations of the year:
Calvin Klein x Amazon
In Fall 2018, Calvin Klein and Amazon Fashion joined forces to make the online shopping experience into reality with an upcoming immersive activation pop-up, located at the Flatiron Plaza.
The visitors to the three-day event experienced the Calvin Klein x Amazon Fashion NYC Market with a number of digitally enhanced experiences leading to Amazon.com/mycalvins, where CK Jeans and underwear were sold.
Also, the special event brought to life the Calvin Klein Jeans fall ad campaign through interactive stalls. The experience featured “Together in Denim Billboard”, allowing visitors to re-create the campaign shoot. Visitors were also allowed to play games and win prizes, in addition to many more unique experiences, including free popcorn and water branded boxes.
We considered this one a great and an unexpected collaboration not only because it was aesthetically rich and impactful, but also, it worked to showcase the big role that Amazon has in fashion business nowadays and it let clear that there is nothing more New York than Calvin Klein, and we loved it!
Fendi x Fila
These two brands are that kind of collaboration that you know from the beginning is going to be a huge success. The big contrast of an elegant and sophisticated brand like Fendi with an all-time classic Italian sports brand like Fila make something fun, beautiful and unexpected.
Fila is a brand that has been in and out of urban fashion for years and their popularity has been on the rise again for about the past two years. Fendi has always been a popular high-end brand, but their re-introduction of the classic Fendi monogram print this past year has also launched them back into the spotlight.
As we saw on the Fall/Winter 2018 runway it was a creative logo mashup, which saw the Fendi name take on an imaginative FILA twist. Both brands have since aligned creating a full-fledged lineup that builds off the initial fashion week tease.
Both creative directors were fascinated with the idea of matching both brands. “All the Italian kids had a shirt from Fila … every summer, my parents used to send me to a summer boarding school. I played tennis, and I had this polo. It was the exact one that Björn Borg used to wear.” Said Silvia Venturini Fendi, Creative Director for Accessories & Men’s to Elle Magazine.
“It’s like when you wear sneakers with a tuxedo because it’s today’s life. There are no borders anymore; today there is a dialogue. Fashion is taking and giving at the same time … Fendi is moving forward, changing and enticing. That’s what fashion is about!” Says to Elle Magazine Karl Lagerfeld, Creative Director for Fur & RTW (who’s no stranger to collaborations).
Coach and Disney
Nowadays, the memories of our childhood and take of a retro and nostalgic appeal are a great strategy for the business. Coach understood this for around 2 years and their collaboration with Disney every season is one of the best sellers for the brand.
This year the third Disney x Coach collection featured a whole slew of nostalgia-packed totes, messenger bags, coin cases, wallets, wristlets, bag charms, and phone pocket stickers that pay homage to the dark side of the fairy tales of Snow White and Sleepy Beauty taking elements like the spooky eyes of the darkness and the poison apple and it was an amazing collection.
“It was a kind of dark take on a romantic feel,” Coach creative director Stuart Vevers told ELLE.com. “There’s always something quite freaky in the references of the collection, and as a big Disney fan, I started to see some parallels with some of the themes in my favorite movies.”
“Because this is the third collection we’ve done with Disney, they know us well, and we’ve also got to know how they work. It was really important to me that I give something that felt fashion. Even when we did Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse earlier this year with Disney, I always wanted it to have something that felt very different, very unique.” Said Stuart Vevers to Elle.com.
