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Pip Edwards on her full-circle Ksubi return and fuelling its 'super beast' US rise

Fashion icon Pip Edwards is back at Ksubi as creative director 25 years after helping define the brand's early DNA, launching her new Edwards Edit collection just as the indie sleaze revival begins.

Pip Edwards is the Guest Editor of Weekend Confidential in The Sunday Telegraph. Picture: Tim Hunter
Pip Edwards is the Guest Editor of Weekend Confidential in The Sunday Telegraph. Picture: Tim Hunter

Two decades ago, Pip Edwards was part of the original Ksubi crew — the denim-obsessed collective that helped define the early-2000s Australian fashion landscape.

Fast forward 25 years and Edwards once again finds herself at the centre of the Ksubi universe, this time as one of the brand’s most recognisable faces and advocates.

Since Craig King took over as CEO in 2019, it’s become a global denim goliath with serious muscle in the U.S.

“It’s a very different business now from what it was at the beginning,” said Edwards.

“The brand has changed in that now it is a super beast in America.”

“They’ve got such an amazing footprint over there — New York, LA, Miami, Chicago.”

“When I go to New York, I am gobsmacked. The queues! The customers and the kids over there are just insatiable for it. So it’s really exciting.”

As creative director at Ksubi and the force behind the new Edwards Edit, the 45-year-old feels as though she has come full circle.

Pip Edwards says the brand is now a “super beast” in America. Picture: Tim Hunter
Pip Edwards says the brand is now a “super beast” in America. Picture: Tim Hunter
Pip Edwards back in 2006 at the height of indie sleaze. Titomedia/ Marc Stanley
Pip Edwards back in 2006 at the height of indie sleaze. Titomedia/ Marc Stanley

“It’s been really exciting to get back into the DNA of the brand and the product, and then marry that with the energy that was, that is... now, and always has been Ksubi,” Edwards said.

“I know the DNA so well, like, it’s literally in my blood.

“It’s super nostalgic for me. It’s a family legacy.”

For Edwards, the resurgence of indie sleaze — championed by modern muses like Gabriette, Amelia Gray and Charli XCX — has only amplified her sense of déjà vu.

“I find this trend fascinating,” said Edwards.

“These people are all tapping into what we lived 20 years ago. So it’s really quite awesome to have been in kind of the epicentre of that movement and now it come back again.”

It’s at the centre of her ‘edit’ which launched this week.

“Well, I am an OG skinny jean girl,” she said.

“This edit is about low rise, which has never left my wardrobe.

“It’s got a vibe, it’s got an attitude, it’s messy.

“There was a lot of time it’s been all about being clean and perfect — this rawness is coming back.”


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Original URL: https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/entertainment/sydney-confidential/pip-edwards-on-her-fullcircle-ksubi-return-and-fuelling-its-super-beast-us-rise/news-story/517b0b9c43284eed8a1c5b7efd03f65c