BOOM! Those guys at Opening Ceremony have dropped another collaboration on us and it can’t get more iconic than living legend Yoko Ono producing a menswear collection inspired by John Lennon’s ‘hot bod’ can it? The answer is no, obviously! Yoko recently revealed to Vogue that she always travels with a room full of clothes and the lady clearly knows her fabrics.
The collection, Fashions for Men: 1969-2012, is based on a compilation of hand-drawn illustrations presented to John Lennon by Yoko on the occasion of their wedding. Forty-three years later, OC and Yoko have worked together to bring a select group of these drawings to life, creating unisex apparel, footwear, and accessories in exclusive editions of only 52 pieces, as well as a limited run of sweatshirts, and posters featuring ONO’s artwork.
Due to land in the US on November 27th and then in London in early December, Yoko will be at OC’s Howard Street store on the 27th. Conceptual art has never been so bang on trend.
When Portuguese designers, Paulo Almeida and Marta Marques joined forces to create their collaborative womenswear label, Marques’Almeida in 2011, the result was electric: deconstructed acid wash denim with a Nineties youth code aesthetic composed a collection which was undoubtedly the utmost inventive use of denim the fashion world had seen in a long while.
Now, 18 months and four collections later, Marta and Paulo are still redefining the boundaries of denim-ware design whilst effectively introducing other fabrics along the way: Most recently for S/S ‘13 the pair presented us with traces of light weight cottons and linens which too were given the label’s signature fabric-distressing treatment.
Following a successful showcase at London Fashion Week in September (their first season as celebrated NewGen winners), Twin caught up with the design-duo to find out more…
Your work is inspired by Nineties youth culture – what is so special about this era for you?
We have been obsessed with it since we started our MA when we began exploring youth code dressing and what it means. We’ve been drawn to teenagers and how they dress with a particular focus on the late Nineties and early Noughties. It’s a very instinctive way of researching as we were growing up as teenagers ourselves during that period so we’ve been looking back to all of our own personal references, which hopefully makes it really authentic and really fun too!
Why did you initially decide to focus on denim as the foundation of your label’s signature?
It stemmed from our initial exploration into young sub-cultural style. We researched all we could and there were always a couple common elements – denim and t-shirts. We couldn’t run away from it.
If your design aesthetic were a song what would it sound like?
‘Drinking in LA’ by Bran van 3000 or Fiona Apple’s ‘Fast As You Can’
Who are your heroes?
Rei Kawakubo and Helmut Lang
How does working as duo affect the creative process?
It’s hard and insanely fun at the same time! It’s hard because there’s really no compromise as neither of us are really capable of that, so there’s a lot of back and forth and lots of discussions about things, but then there are really instinctive moments where we’re both on the same page and don’t need to say a word! It’s so much more fun than doing it alone and it is also what we think makes our product really new; it’s the combination of two really different uncompromising aesthetics into one strong point of view.
You have worked closely with Opening Ceremony in the past – are there any other exciting collaborations coming up in the near future?
There might be… Let’s hope so – we love collaborations!
Overly cool brand Opening Ceremony has garnered a cult status through its locations in cities like New York and Tokyo. Luckily for us, London is finally getting a piece of the action, thanks to the launch of label’s first UK shop yesterday. Set in Covent Garden, the 3,000-square-foot pop up store has been opened to coincide with the Olympic Games starting later this month and the company’s ten-year anniversary in September.
The brand has already collaborated with the likes of Chloë Sevigny and Rodarte, but to mark the London O.C. takeover, designers including adidas, Norma Kamali, Topshop, Band of Outsiders, Charles Anastase, Christopher Shannon, House of Holland, Pamela Love and Proenza Schouler have created exclusive capsule collections for the store.
Combined with a selection of rare books curated by the Claire de Rouen team and set in a neon-coloured, geometric shape-decorated landscape courtesy of Studio Toogood, it’s safe to say we have found ourselves a new retail paradise. Let the shopping games begin.
It’s been a busy month for House of Hackney; as well as setting up a summer residency within the walls of Liberty, June also sees the launch of their debut clothing line. The omnipotent interiors company have joined forces with US fashion giant, Opening Ceremony, whom we just can’t get enough of right now, to turn their beautiful and bold homeware prints into ready to wear.
Antiqued leopard spots and the brand’s signature ‘Dalston Rose’ design are placed onto a selection of baby doll dresses, oversized knits and high-waisted shorts to name a few. Business partners and HoH founders, Frieda Gormley and Javvy M Royle both hail from fashion backgrounds, so it is no surprise that next season the pair plan to take the fashion element of their business to the next level with the launch of a menswear capsule collection. The current womenswear collection is available to buy in Opening Ceremony stores and from the House of Hackney website now.
They say two heads are better than one and we agree. Kicking off our Twin Guest Edit series is fashion writer, model, stylist and all-around wünderkind Julia Frakes. Having run her blog Bunny Bisous since 2007, the Pennsylvania-native has written for publications such as Paper and Dossier Journal, been photographed by the likes of Annie Leibovitz and Cass Bird, and styled Rachel Antonoff’s RTW collections. All accomplished by the tender age of 22, she is also currently completing her degree in psychology.
Read on for the first of her Three Quick Questions interviews…
As the buyer for retail Mecca, Opening Ceremony, Kate Foley holds both the keenest eye and one of the most enviable jobs in the industry.
While fashion followers may first recognise Kate by her effortless and oft-emulated street style, within the field she is also known for her inspiring warmth and rallying work-ethic as part of Opening Ceremony’s team.
In the midst of the hectic Resort 2013 week, Kate and I grabbed a quick coffee for a light-hearted Q&A in the garden behind Saturdays Surf NYC, just around the corner from the Opening Ceremony Headquarters.
As well as her resort buying duties, Kate is abuzz in planning Opening Ceremony’s London boutique launch in time for the 2012 Summer Olympic Games.
It was a true thrill to discover a bit about what makes Kate tick…
Julia Frakes: How did your childhood in England influence your style philosophy today?
Kate Foley: I grew up in a small village in the English Countryside and the selection of clothing stores in the local town was limited, to say the least. I think this really taught me to shop well and it challenged me to be creative.
There were some times when I would go to London to get something special, though; so I would supplement this with flea market finds, home-made bits, and simpler, classic pieces. I guess my style today still reflects that: I tend to find a special piece and then mix it with simpler pieces from my wardrobe. This way I feel interesting but also relaxed and comfortable… which is so important to me. There is nothing better or sexier than when a woman is totally comfortable and looks effortless.
JF: Opening Ceremony… London Olympics… 2012. We are all psyched-beyond-words by all of the potential collaborations and rumours that have been floating about. Of the various OC summer projects in the pipeline, can you perhaps shed some light on those that particularly jazz your game?
KF: I’m beyond excited about the London store opening. I’m British and it feels like such a big deal that there will be an Opening Ceremony in my home country. There are so many exciting, special collaborations in the works for the new store. We have Proenza [Schouler] and Delfina Delettrez making these amazing special pieces for us… all of which I’m dying to get my hands on.
We have a super-cool collaboration with adidas Originals (the lookbook shot by Josh Olins can be viewed online [at Twin] already!), a special Opening Ceremony London collection which I really, really love, and we will also be launching a Chloë Sevigny for Opening Ceremony collection filled with all our favourite pieces from the past, which, yes, is super exciting. There are so many other projects that will be in the London store… but you will have to wait for the opening for those!
JF: So, just for kicks: if you were commissioned to design a Bearbrick-type figurine Twin for HRM Queen Elizabeth II, how would you style it (or her)?
KF: She would have to be wearing a single chain of pearls, small stud pearl earrings, this Christopher Kane Metallic Floral Brocade two-piece and a Maison Michel Straw Bibi Cat headpiece [see images].
Opening Ceremony and adidas Originals are on the B of the Bang with their new collection. No doubt about it, their collaborative ode to urban sportswear is fleet of foot. Launching as the Olympics really start to loom, adidas’ classic silhouettes have been souped-up with OC’s retail philosophy.
Taking their cues from cycling and swimwear, these are off the track pieces that are rich in print, colour and attitude. Comprised of 70 separates and 20 footwear pieces, floral and bandana prints and Nineties splatter-paint motifs dominate. Not so much Olympic cyclist than BMX bandit and not so much 100m butterfly than city Lido, there are too many must-haves for our summer. Be sure to accessorize with goggles.
adidas Originals by Opening Ceremony capsule collection is available globally in July and August 2012.
Right now there’s one opening ceremony that we’re excited about. Yep, innovative retailers and purveyors of global cool Humberto Leon and Carol Lim of Opening Ceremony are opening a pop-up shop in London’s Covent Garden, days before the Olympics are due to begin.
While it’s a more than apt moment to launch the brand into the UK, we’re simply happy to have the store on this side of the pond. Having already produced collections lusted after by fashionistas the world over, the store is set to boast wares by Proenza Schouler, Chloe Sevigny and Pamela Love, as well of course as Kenzo, whom Opening Ceremony recently took over design duties for. For those keeping it strictly sporty during that month, they’ll also be Adidas X Opening Ceremony.
Hot on the heels of the pop-up store will come a permanent space opening in Autumn, but right now, the buzz building up for July just got louder.
Opening Ceremony have a history of cool collaborations. From indie-queen Chloe Sevigny to denim giant Levi’s, the store cum label manages to shape-shift between creative influences while retaining its essential DNA. Their latest collaboration is with conceptual de-constructionists Maison Martin Margiela. Since presenting the collaboration at New York Fashion Week back in February, it’s been a matter of playing a patient waiting game. Finally though, MM6 Maison Martin Margiela x OC is on sale and it’s a partnership based on shared sentiments.
Recuperation, transformation and reinterpretation are the immovable creative cornerstones for the Maison and the collection is a fluid enactment of their 3-in-1 concept. Linings of coats unzip to become lightweight layers and nylon gaters add height to ankle boots to the point of becoming trousers themselves. They’ve even come up with a quirky stop-motion video that brings the morphology of the Maison and OC’s designs to life. Get swept away.
Last night’s Twin party to celebrate the launch of Twin IV was road blocked.
The lucky few were recipients of a rather generous bag of goodies. Here’s the breakdown:
Identifying a comfortable and trendy dog cloth is turning out to be difficult, as more and more cute dog clothes are venturing in the global market on regular basis.
Let’s hope so – we love collaborations!
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