Collaboration Overload

NEW YORK, United States — The season of constant collaborations seems unending. Hate it or love it, understanding how these partnerships support the young brand’s bottom line and in turn, feed the vibe machine of these established players is vitally important. While fashion collaborations tend to follow a tried-and-true playbook, here are a couple recent examples that caught our eye.

LONG-TERM PARTNERSHIP >>

Last fall marked the launch of the F/W 2023 Adidas Originals x Wales Bonner collection. In fact, this is at least the fourth  drop between the two brands since the inaugural one in 2020. It goes without saying that these major sportswear partnerships can further capitalize the artistic (read: less commercial) aspects of the business while bringing in new audiences for both brands. Despite 129 stockists, Wales Bonner’s pact with Adidas might be its most valuable brand proponent yet. Most of the collection sold out in under a week.

Blackstock & Weber / @blackstockandweber

HYPER NICHE → IYKYK

Blackstock & Weber has embarked on a number of collabs over the years, including with TEMBEA, J. Crew, Kith, and coming soon, with Sperry where founder Chris Echevarria will serve as creative director for a capsule collection this year. Last November, the seven-year-old brand launched a new ready-to-wear line of its own: Academy New York. Tie-ups between like-minded niche players can qualitatively skyrocket brand affinity. Put another way, the brand is teaching its audience about other brands that they should know, and in the world of true collectors, that insider knowledge is priceless.

OUT OF THE BOX

T.A. New York x Vans / @t.a.newyork

One step further in collaboration land is T.A. New York x Vans, which celebrated the retail store’s footwear partnership via short film, intimate dinner, and pop-up shop in downtown Manhattan last fall. It is quite surprising in that the retail store doesn’t actually have an in-house line. Through its eclectic assortment led by owner Telsha Anderson, the concept store has been able to cultivate a strong sense of visual identity that warrants a major footwear brand like Vans giving them a shot. It’s a three-sided deal: Vans can provide a spotlight on a young, up and coming influencer in a key market while T.A. can get paid to shine that light onto other brands in its orbit like Only Made NY and Redoux.

Lead Image Wales Bonner.