fashion collaborations 2022
From streetwear darlings joining with luxury maisons, to royal-favourite hunting jackets emblazoned with Scandi kitsch, this year saw collaborations from all parts of the fashion sphere.
Collaboration is not new to fashion, but the sheer, accelerated pace at which big-name forces have joined together this year is novel. Many of these designers are clasping hands across a chasm of creative difference, but it is that difference in their proclivities, their aesthetics and their audiences that makes the unions fizz.
And by teaming up, each has an opportunity to introduce themselves to people who have previously not bought from a brand they considered too casual or too expensive, too lowbrow or too old-world for their tastes. Here is a chance to attract a whole new audience, a whole new customer base.
It’s a mutually beneficial proposition – one that’s been taken up by luxury maisons and fast fashion behemoths alike. The former, to increase their scope, and potentially gain a new legion of admirers, and the latter, to add cache and clout to their churning business model with a touch of exclusivity and premium allure.
It’s not always a meeting of asymmetrically priced brands: one of the most successful and talked about collaborations of 2022 was Fendace, the alliance between blockbuster fashion houses Versace and Fendi, both of which sell accessories and apparel that retail at well into the thousands of dollars. This union was born from something else entirely … buzz.
That is the less understood, but even more highly-coveted end goal of a collaboration: to get the fashion set’s Chanel-lined lips moving. Fendace was a combination of Donatella Versace’s Fendi by Versace collection and Kim Jones’ Versace by Fendi collection; a bombshell of Versace pins and Fendi’s monogram, battling for attention and distorting the eye. It caused buzz all right.
Here are some more of the fashion collaborations of 2022.
Balmain x Barbie
Valentino isn’t the only label putting pink on the fashion radar: Balmain x Barbie, which debuted in January of 2022, was a riot of the colour, in all its different iterations. Playful blush, bold fuchsia, gentle rose. Tees and sweaters bore the Mattel brand’s iconography and models posed limp and doll-like in cardboard houses for the shoot. Olivier Rousteing, Balmain’s 36-year-old creative director, was keen to stress that this was not the Barbie of yesteryear. The models were diverse, and the clothes made for everyone. It “rejects any arbitrary gender limitations – this is an almost 100 per cent unisex collection,” said Rousteing. “For, just as today’s Barbie makes clear, there’s nothing holding us back anymore!”
Gucci x Adidas
A runway debut is perhaps the boldest way to send a collaboration out into the world, so Gucci and Adidas knew what they were doing here. Sporty and chic, suiting was toggled every which way, merging classic house forms (flowing gowns, pointed collars, lush trousers) with the sportswear brand’s distinctive stripes and streetwear aesthetic. The result was a kind of Franken-logo, with the distinctive trefoil of Adidas sitting above the Gucci type. This preppy pairing was a sportif sensation from the catwalk to the kerb.
Prada x Adidas
This pair has worked together before, but in 2022, they teamed up on the Adidas for Prada Re-Nylon collection, offering reinterpretations of the Adidas Originals Forum sneaker in high and low versions, as well as track jackets, tracksuits, sweaters, hoodies and bucket hats. Sustainability was at its core: all Adidas’s nylon was swapped for Prada’s Re-Nylon, which is made from repurposed plastic found in oceans.
Fendi x Tiffany
When Fendi celebrated the 25th anniversary of its iconic Baguette bag, made famous by Sarah Jessica Parker’s Carrie Bradshaw in Sex and the City, it called upon fine jeweller Tiffany and Co to help ring in the occasion. It featured a bag designed by Parker, spangled in pink paillettes, and Tiffany’s duck egg blue on Fendi bags and pochettes – and most notably, on a cape donned by supermodel Linda Evangelista, who emerged from retirement to stalk down the runway for the collaboration show’s finale.
Uniqlo x Marni
Marni is overt and expressive, colour-splashed and print-drenched. Perhaps that’s why it made such a perfect fashion partner to Japanese basics behemoth Uniqlo, with its neutral colours and prioritisation of hi-tech over high saturation. Francesco Risso, the man behind Marni, has taken Uniqlo’s simple, cosy cardigans, well-fitting leggings and demure midi skirts bold and painterly. A fun addition to a retailer where quality is already key (now, you can have a little fun with it, too – and at Uniqlo prices).
Jacquemus x Nike
Also a runway reveal, French designer Simon Porte Jacquemus announced the collaboration during the “Le Papier” Jacquemus Fall/Winter 2022 ready to wear show in Arles. It featured Jacquemus’s signature revealing boldness, in the form of cut-outs and stretchy fabrics, but in a womenswear sport collection with sports bras, cropped polos, bike shorts, hoodies, tee dresses and sneakers.
Peter Do x Opening Ceremony
Opening Ceremony’s Humberto Leon and Carol Lim celebrated their 20th anniversary by calling on New York designer Peter Do to join forces. The result was that the eternally hip boutique launched a capsule featuring a heaping of Do’s minimalism, as imagined on OC’s signature varsity jacket: one in Do’s neoprene-like “spacer” material and another in an upcycled parachute style fabric.
Manolo x Birkenstock
Are any shoes more diametrically opposed than Birkenstocks and Manolo Blahniks? The former, in all their sturdy practicality, were given a glittering update courtesy of the Spanish designer, whose satin, jewel-encrusted Hangisi pumps became synonymous with cosmopolitan glamour in the noughties.
Burberry x Supreme
Streetwear meets a heritage British brand. A marriage that seems unusual perhaps, but not under Riccardo Tisci’s Burberry. That recognisable check found its way onto track pants and jackets, bucket hats and sneakers, while the equestrian knight logo was emblazoned on bags and tees. Supreme maintains a kind of untouchable cache, so it’s no surprise longstanding brands are looking to take a slice of its appeal.
Ganni x Barbour
The emphasis was on sustainability when Scandinavian it-brand Ganni teamed up with British heritage outdoors label Barbour (beloved by Sloanes through the decades, including the leading lady of them all, Princess Diana).
They launched a collection of jackets made from certified organic waxed cotton and certified recycled polyamide. It included a Re-loved section, in which Barbour jackets had been refurbished with a uniquely Ganni take: a bold collar or a pastel cuff. Quirkier than Barbour’s usually timeless appeal, certainly, but still with its uniquely hardy fabrication. And a touch of Scandi flair.
