Collaborations

You can never be too sure which designer label will collaborate with who nowadays, take last season, Barbour releasing with Boxfresh, a good move? Am not so sure, it certainly raised their profile amongest the mainstream, but is it always a good idea, The only thing to change was the inner lining pattern of the jacket. There are others, take Fred Perry teaming up with Raf Simons and New balance x Alife. One name you can rely on to collaborate are Adidas, although had some awful collaborations, there are some beauties, In the past they have joined forces with Stone Island and Oki-ni. Their latest venture see's them team up with japanese artiste Kazuki Kuraishi, part of the fragment collective whom has designed for Levis, Idiom and Visvim.


I like some of the pieces in what is called originals by originals collection, standout footwear for me are ZXZ Gore-tex. Kazuki has also updated the Campus range and concentrated on the clothing side, which to me looks like it is aimed more at the japanese market.

Another shoe which caught my eye from the O by O range was the Adidas Jive Bomber,(above) what a name for a shoe eh, now this is nowhere near what you would expect from Adidas, taking influence from the 40's and 50's american style, incorporating an oxford silhouette design on a sneaker sole. Selling these at Size reduced from £124 to £45.

Its the subtle colours which do it for me and the kicker style sole which make this shoe stand out. Very rarely do Adidas or any other trainer company design something appealing out of their comfort zone. Take the Frezeit range by Adidas or ACG with Nike, Nothing from either range sticks in my memory. So collaborations, the reason behind them, to raise one profile or reinvent among different market. I think they are a good idea and hope to see more in the future, the more diverse the better,

O yes and if your after a decent pair of shoes, that bit different, check a great collaboration Oi Polloi x Etnies.