The 2000s collaborations you may have forgotten

Brand collaborations are by now a constant in the fashion industry, with an increasing number of projects joining forces of two or more very different realities. The main aim of these collabs, in addition to a commercial success well hoped for, is for each respective brand or designer to reap benefits such as a broadening of its target audience and the expansion to a different audience. This trend has spread so much that it has also involved luxury brands; just think of the collections of Gucci and Balenciaga, Fendi and Versace, or again, albeit in a more subtle way and without major announcements, Dries Van Noten and Christian Lacroix. But many creative unions go back many years, when although they had great commercial success, they had not been so publicised as to go completely unnoticed by the general public. The examples are numerous, as is the dutiful distinction between cases that have seen their fame grow exponentially and those that, on the other hand, have interested only a very few insiders and true enthusiasts.

Umbro x Kim Jones

Umbro x Kim Jones

Puma x Jil Sander

Puma x Jil Sander

The amount of fashion collabs that were launched in the mid-2000s is absurd, to the point that it becomes even hard to count them all. Even though several years have passed since their first launch, which moreover lasted for several seasons, the news of these creative marriages can still be surprising today. One of the examples that has gone unnoticed is the Puma collection co-signed by Jil Sander, first launched in 2001, and now available in some of its examples on sites dedicated to vintage, as demonstrated by Depop, where these trainers resale for up to 70 euros. In this case, the silhouettes in this collaboration are, as one would expect, very simple and in neutral tones. Among the unexpected mixes is surely also the one between Umbro and Kim Jones, also born at the beginning of the 2000s and renewed for no less than nine seasons, comprising both clothing and accessories inspired by a markedly sporty aesthetic, in line with the English brand, but also with a stylistic tendency of Jones. In this case, some pieces are available on Ebay at rather competitive prices ranging from 25 to 50 euros, even reaching 100 for outerwear. Lovers of collaborations will not have missed the duet, dating back to 2008, between Alber Elbaz's Lanvin and Acne Studios who, together, presented a series of denim-themed collections, reinterpreted through the glamorous aesthetics of the Moroccan-born late designer. On the other hand, 2010 was the year of the launch of the Moncler V collection, a joint effort between Moncler and Visvim, a menswear brand founded by Japanese Hiroki Nakamura. The Visvim style, which is characterised by a blend of different worlds and cultures, has been translated, in this case, into a reworking of a theme that is very dear to Moncler and typically mountainous, such as the fair isle, declined in a series of technical proposals and accessories.

Acne x Lanvin

Acne x Lanvin

Moncler x Visvim

Moncler x Visvim

Among these past collaborations, there are some that have had and still have a great impact, especially for the names of their protagonists. One of these is undoubtedly the one between H&M and Comme des Garçons, presented in 2008 as a perfect example of the desire to bring together two absolutely distant worlds. A sweetened version of Rei Kawakubo's maximalist aesthetic, closer to what we see on her men's catwalks, has been adapted for the Swedish chain, without being too diluted, but still remaining faithful to her overlapping and usual distortions of body shapes, as well as the unfailing presence of polka dots of various sizes and colours. Vestiaire Collective proposes a rather wide selection at decidedly affordable prices that rarely exceed 100 euros. Lastly, mentioning famous capsule collections, we cannot fail to mention the Fred Perry X Raf Simons collection, which for more than ten years - its debut dates back to 2008 - has continued to explore the aesthetic imagery of skinheads, a counterculture linked inseparably to the British brand, with garments that start from tennis courts, but are then folded by oversize volumes and infused with the force of Youth Culture that has for so long fascinated the Belgian designer.

H&M e Comme des Garçons

Raf Simons x Fred Perry

Raf Simons x Fred Perry

In closing this collection of "collabs before collabs", a reflection is in order. Looking at all these examples with the awareness that we have today, the idea that two or more brands might have chosen to join creative forces for a four-handed collection may seem almost obvious, but if instead we pause to consider the temporal context in which this took place, the obviousness is no longer so obvious. In those years this type of move was absolutely strategic and allowed the various brands to impress their audience thanks to the uniqueness that accompanied these launches, despite the fact that back then the hype phenomenon was yet to present itself to the same degree we are witnessing it now, when collaborations has become an almost seasonal, if not monthly, practice.