Maybe it's because everyone's out of office soaking up the summer vibes, but this week's luxury brand collaboration scene was quiet. So, we decided to dedicate our global collabs coverage to the genius of disruptive footwear design mogul Salehe Bembury. More on his New Balance, Crocs and Moncler releases later.

Here's the collab news that had us hooked over the past week...

• Anticlimax: the luxury brands steering clear of collabs here.
• Tommy Hilfiger's "Tommy Parallel" project in HiberWorld and other Web3 drops here.
• Brands collaborating on luxury wellness experiences here.
• Chinese designer Rui Zhou's collaboration with Victoria's Secret here.

Meanwhile, China has been booming with brand collabs this week, from Li-Ning and League of Legends teaming up on a clothing capsule, to Givenchy x Mr Bags and Edison Chen's Clot x Supreme announcement. 

Read on for our verdict on those. As always, thanks for reading! Be sure to send all of your tips to collabs@jingdaily.com.

—Sadie Bargeron, Collabs & Drops Editor

GLOBAL COLLABS OF THE WEEK

MONCLER X SALEHE BEMBURY — Moncler Genius collection, July 14

SOCIAL CONTEXT: On Instagram, #monclersalehebembury has just 109 organic posts. Out of the eight most recent posts on Moncler's official account, there are insofar over 23,000 likes. Meanwhile, Salehe Bembury (758,000 followers) has raked in over 64,000 likes on his most recent post.

VERDICT:

• Bembury has brought his popular trademark thumbprint motif to Moncler's puffer outerwear, showcasing a convergence of famed brand designs.
• The designer's cult following combined with Moncler's trailblazing Genius concept has resulted in a collab that has received almost 100 percent positive feedback online, with netizens calling it the "collab of the year." However, some fans are expressing frustration with the price points.
• So far, globally, the Padded Shirt has proven to be the most popular design, retailing for $1,155 (9,400 RMB).

CROCS X SALEHE BEMBURY — Crocs Pollex Clog in Niagara colorway, July 20

SOCIAL CONTEXT: Salehe Bembury's official Instagram post has 34,300 likes, while Crocs is yet to post about the collaboration.

VERDICT:

• Since 2021, Bembury has managed to completely reimagine the globally famous shoe silhouette, transforming the ugly footwear into an otherworldly textured design and instantly winning over streetwear fanatics.
• Released exclusively via Bembury's brand Be A Spunge's website, this Crocs tie-up is evidently targeted at the designer's own fanbase rather than at Crocs' mainstream clientele.
• The "Friends and Family" Spackle White Salehe Bembury Crocs are currently selling on StockX for a 386 percent price premium. Bembury has successfully brought Crocs into the hyped footwear space.

NEW BALANCE X SALEHE BEMBURY — 1906R sneakers in sunset-style colorway, date TBA

SOCIAL CONTEXT: The Instagram post from June teasing the unreleased sneakers has gained 22,339 likes.

VERDICT:

• This would be the first 1906R sneaker by Bembury, who has become fiercely synonymous with New Balance since their first collaboration in 2020.
• Leaking the drop to Bembury's loyal following is a great way to stir hype in the weeks leading up to the official announcement.
• The New Balance x Salehe Bembury Peace Be The Journey design is on StockX for a 258 percent price premium, reflecting the hype of their brand collisions.

CHINA COLLABS OF THE WEEK

CLOT X SUPREME — TBC

SOCIAL CONTEXT: #ClotxSupreme has been read 275,000 times on Weibo at the time of writing, and there are just 21 posts so far on Instagram with the same hashtag. Clot's Instagram post has attracted 21,601 likes.

VERDICT:

• Adding to the brand’s 20th birthday roll-out of celebratory brand collaborations, Clot founder Edison Chen took to Instagram’s new Twitter-esque Threads platform to say, “If I told u we doing a Clot x Supreme collab ... Would u even believe me?” The reactions indicate it’s going to sell out.
• Both Supreme and Clot are arguably streetwear leaders in their respective markets. Because of that, their fan bases overlap a lot.
• As the brands already share consumers and are in competition, this can be viewed as a larger, more disruptive collaboration than one emanating from contrasting industries.

GIVENCHY X MR BAGS — 100 China-exclusive Voyou bags sold via Mr Bags' WeChat mini-program, July 25

SOCIAL CONTEXT: Givenchy has not posted anything about the drop on Weibo, whereas Mr Bags (6.68 million fans) has received more than 4,000 likes combined on his three posts about it. The announcement on WeChat received 51,000 views and 232 likes.

VERDICT:

• The social strategy behind this collaboration reflects how Givenchy is targeting Mr Bags’ following in China, rather than setting out to impress its existing clients.
• Mr Bags is one of the mainland’s most prolific fashion bloggers, boasting over 10 million followers across Chinese social platforms. He is known for curating lists of his favorite handbags, so releasing an exclusive collaboration with Givenchy enables the maison to instantly make that list.
• As Mr Bags has designed limited edition designer bags for several labels, and his work is extremely focused on fashion without much association with his personal life, he’s one of the more reliable options for KOL partnerships.

LI-NING X LEAGUE OF LEGENDS — Pool Party clothing and accessories collection, July 17

SOCIAL CONTEXT: Li-Ning currently has 1.65 million fans on Weibo, where the hashtag #李宁英雄联盟泳池派对联名系列上市 has 5.47 million views at the time of writing.

VERDICT:

• Li-Ning is already a partner of the League of Legends professional league, making this an unsurprising tie-up that strengthens the brands' relationship.
• Thanks to fan culture, which has been turbocharged by social media, merchandise is another leading trend that this feeds into.
• League of Legends is able to tap into the popularity of some of Li-Ning’s popular silhouettes such as the running sneaker, producing esteemed merchandise that’s streetwear-certified. Li-Ning, on the other hand, is able to connect with the millions of millennial and Gen Z consumers who play League of Legends in China.

ON OUR RADAR

1. JULY 14 TO 27: SLAWN X FLANNELS Lagos-born London-based artist Slawn has opened "The Art Kiosk" at Flannels X as part of a two-week installation at London's Oxford Street Flannels store.
2. JULY 12: LONGCHAMP X TOILETPAPER Coming together on a vibrantly playful collection that perfectly merges their brand identities, the two have recreated the famous Le Pliage bag, featuring illustrations of a baguette, French bulldog, and more.
3. JULY 14: MISSONI X NIKKI BEACH COSTA SMERALDA Set on the coast of Sardinia, Missoni's customized sunbeds and umbrellas decorate the Nikki Beach Costa Smeralda, connecting with luxury consumers on their summer vacations.
4. JULY 18: EASTPAK X PLEASURES For their second collaboration, Eastpak and lifestyle brand Pleasures have reworked some of the bag brand's iconic signatures, offering crossbody, backpacks and vests.
5. JULY 18: LYLE & SCOTT X [MULTIPLE AMATEUR CLUBS] Lyle & Scott has launched the "Kits for Clubs" campaign, a new global initiative to provide free football kits to emerging young talents from amateur teams and small clubs.

ALESSIO ASCARI ON FASHION AND CULTURE IN 2023

Founder and creative director at Kaleidoscope Magazine, Alessio Ascari runs the annual arts and culture festival Manifesto, which takes place during Paris Fashion Week — 2023 marked the event's second year in a row being in partnership with American online platform Goat. Ascari also just curated a major exhibition in celebration of the 1953 Gucci Horsebit loafer in Milan.

For the first time, Manifesto 2023 featured exclusive collections by Ottolinger, Sky High Farm, ERL and Wales Bonner.

Here, Jing Collabs & Drops delves into the mind of Ascari, talking brand collaboration and the mood of fashion and culture in 2023.

How does the festival situate itself in the fashion industry?

“I think what is really unique about it is that at its core, it’s a community-based project. Since it takes place during Paris Fashion Week but it’s entirely open to the public, we have industry leaders attending alongside the local creative community.

"So bringing different crowds together, sharing this cultural moment IRL, generating this energy… is really what it’s all about. On the other hand, crafting a curated digital experience on Kaleidoscope and Goat’s channels allows us to make this moment accessible to a wider audience through editorial content and exclusive product. The key is a dynamic relationship between these two components.”

What is your opinion on the fashion industry today?

"New generations have an increasingly horizontal approach to creative practice — the flow of content, information, and visual stimuli is tremendous and so wide that it overcomes any traditional boundaries between disciplines, therefore the dialogue between different areas of culture feels completely natural. This shift has also mirrored in the way many fashion brands, at least the most progressive and sophisticated ones, are engaging in conversation with other forms of art. In my opinion, that makes fashion more porous, and I think that’s a good thing."

You recently curated the exhibition Gucci Horsebit Loafer: 70 Years of an Icon at Spazio Maiocchi in Milan. What was your process of selecting artists?

"Being a celebration of this emblematic fashion artifact, the process of working on the exhibition began with the archives — we sourced these incredible images of icons like Jodie Foster, Fred Astaire, and Francis Ford Coppola wearing the loafers through the years. However, with this project we didn’t want to look back: We wanted to look forward and imagine the future of the Horsebit. So we invited an eclectic group of artists and creatives spanning a variety of media — from sculpture to video, from design to AI — to offer their unique perspective."

In what ways do you think fashion brands benefit from exhibitions?

"It’s about context, storytelling and inspiration. And there is no better way to achieve that than to involve artists and visionary creators. Experiencing the exhibition, visitors will acquire knowledge about the history of a product but will also be inspired by the interpretations that we curated around that."

What advice do you have for fashion labels or designers wanting to collaborate with artists?

"Being mindful and respecting the vision of the artists is really essential. It should go two ways — the artists shouldn’t be seen as a mere vehicle to tell the story of a product or a brand. They should also be offered a platform and an audience. In this sense, each collaboration should be a moment of mutual celebration. Sometimes, it gets transactional and the artist’s vision gets diluted. So my suggestion for fashion brands is to hire people that are fluent in art and understand it!"