At its Paris Fashion Week show on Friday night, Windowsen, the Chinese label founded by Sensen Lii in 2019, teamed up with Beats by Dre to unveil crystal-embellished headphones, blending the creativity of an independent local designer with the prestige of a leading household name.
“Music is always my inspiration and part of my lifestyle. I feel so excited and honored to work with Beats, and I think the spirit of cultivating culture, sports, style, and fashion aligns perfectly with my vision for Windowsen," Lii said following the show.
"This is just the beginning, and I look forward to exploring different projects with Beats and other likeminded brands."
Unveiled as part of Windowsen’s second show on the Paris schedule, this experimental collaboration with Beats by Dre follows tie-ups between the Dr. Dre and Jimmy Lovine-founded brand and the likes of Stüssy, Mowalola, Fragment Design, and Girls Don’t Cry. The collaboration therefore positions the Chinese label among mainstream names in the industry.
Embellished with over 5,000 lead-free crystals, the headphones come in five bold colorways of purple, green, yellow, blue, and red — each a glitzy accessory for the Fall 2024 runway collection.
From dressing icons like Steve Aoki and Winnie Harlow to capturing the attention of global sensations like Madonna, Rihanna, Doja Cat, and K-pop groups Itzy and Everglow, Windowsen is one of the hottest labels to come out of Shanghai.
Ever since founder Lii won the VFiles New York Fashion Week runway competition in 2018 while still a student at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp, he has solidified his brand’s reputation for consistently presenting alien-like couture with captivating visuals that push the boundaries of ready-to-wear.
With his brand stocked in H.Lorenzo in the US, London’s Machine-A, and Gr8 Japan, the designer works between Shanghai and Paris.
This new collaboration is evidence of Windowsen’s global expansion. It is also the ultimate move for Beats by Dre, enabling the brand to connect with both global fashion followers and Chinese fans. On Weibo, China’s equivalent of Twitter, the #windowsen hashtag has a staggering 91.9 million reads, while the brand’s official account has 37,000 fans.
Similarly, on Xiaohongshu, #windowsen boasts 777,400 reads and a devoted following of 12,100 fans. Even on international platforms like Instagram, where the brand has 196,000 followers, and TikTok, where it has generated 2.2 million views with 143 related posts, there’s a sense of anticipation for the drop.
As fashion enthusiasts and tech aficionados alike eagerly await the drop of these crystal-embellished headphones, one thing is certain: Both brands are leveraging Gen Z’s love of Y2K headphones.