The new merch of Highsnobiety
The Staples Collection: the basic for post lockdown and an alternative to the business model of digital magazines
July 29th, 2020
«We felt like it was the right time to go back to what matters most: elevated, premium and timeless staples. […] 2020 has challenged the world to rethink its approach - in society, in life and in fashion. Our design is reflective of this challenge, a focus on what is most essential».
This is how David Fischer - founder of Highsnobiety - presented in the Friends&Family newsletter the new Staples Collection, the new merch line of the Berlin-based magazine.
In the presentation Fischer emphasized how the essentiality of the collection captures the feeling of the New Normality of the post lockdown with a return to the basic garment.
From an editorial point of view, this is a new evolution in the Highsnobiety business model, which - together with Hypebeast - represent today the most important alternative realities to the major historical groups such as Condé Nast and Hearst. The direction taken by the magazine founded by Fischer aims to make the digital magazine more and more a ubiquitous brand to every need of its community: from the cool hunting of the magazine, to reports on the industry to the essential merch.
The new line of merch is a natural evolution of the path taken a year ago by Highsnobiety with the exclusive drop of Prada Linea Rossa, followed by collaborations with New Balance and other brands. It is still a hybrid model between the classic e-commerce and the market place, which could represent a solution for the precarious business of online publishing.
Focusing on the product, the Staples Collections consists of six hoodies and six t-shirts, five crewnecks and five baseball hats, four wool caps in the colorsways of white, black, burgundy, green and blue – as well as a pair of white sponge socks. The quality of the materials and the clean design trace the aesthetics of the new normcore that takes up the fit of Yeezy and the typical Berlin style with a soft color palette. The oversized label sewn on each garment best represents the essentiality of the collection "Produced in Portugal, designed in Berlin".