Who is the guest designer? Cooperation of fashion brands with designers and artists

H&M is an economical brand designed for the general public. But what sets this retailer apart is inviting high-end designers to collaborate on some of its collections; For example, Karl Lagerfeld, the creative director of luxury brands such as Chanel, Fendi and Chloe, was the “guest designer” of the H&M fast fashion brand in 2004.

During the last two decades, H&M has invited many high-end winners to create a joint collection; Moschino, Versace, Martin Margella, Isabel Marant, Kenzo, Stella McCartney, Raban and Mugler are part of this long list. Every time H&M announces a new collaboration with a luxury brand, people on social media talk about it and expect to buy it.

H&M collection in collaboration with other brands

The 20th anniversary of H&D’s invitation to a guest designer was an excuse to ask ourselves why fashion brands go to collaborate and invite a guest designer. In this article, we will answer this question by examining the opinion of people active in the field of fashion. We also mention interesting examples of collaboration between clothing designers and artists with fashion brands.

Is there a difference between collaborating and inviting a guest designer?

We have heard a lot about the collaboration of brands together – like the collaboration of Nike and Jacquemus – or the collaboration of brands with an artist – like Louis Vuitton and Yaui Kusama. Is there a difference between “guest designer” and “collaboration”?

It may not be possible to accurately define a boundary between the two. Their similarities are much more than their differences. Few people have looked for minor differences and simply the act of cooperation between two people or brands has been done with various commercial, cultural and social goals.

But Elizabeth von der Goltz, Net-a-Porte’s Global Purchasing Director, has pointed out an interesting point that can be based on her model between the Collaborator and the Guest Designer – which they call minds. He called creative – distinguished. It should be noted that this is not a fixed definition and is only a person’s personal opinion:

“A collaboration often means the coming together of a small brand and a large brand that sometimes have very different aesthetics and even completely different categories. These collaborations tend to be loud and commercial. Having a guest designer is different and more about aligning and mixing creativity than just being together. For example, the successful and poetic collaboration of Van Noten and Lacroix.

Therefore, in this article, to distinguish between guest designer and colleague, the word “co-creation” is used in cases where the guest designer is present and the creative aspects are more prominent than the commercial and advertising aspects. In other cases, the term “collaboration” is used, which is more comprehensive.

Why do fashion brands collaborate and co-create?

1. A new look and perception of brand DNA

“A guest designer or collaborator can redefine another brand’s DNA with a fresh perspective,” says Linda Fargo, senior vice president and director of women’s fashion at Bergdorf Goodman’s Department Store. Like a duet like Amy Winehouse and Tony Bennett.”

2. Creating a new but familiar style

Trend forecaster Lidewij Edelkoort says: “Since cultural appropriation has limited designers’ creativity and finding purpose in the age of information overload has become difficult, I think inviting guests, colleagues and personalities, known style and style It renews and adds surprise and freshness to it. In general, former street wear designers, luxury designers and couture designers are the best people to work with. They are confident in their creativity and are not afraid to intervene.”

According to him, these co-creations come from the music industry, where collaborations and guest appearances are common and very popular with audiences. As the music industry has long influenced skate and street brands, it has also paved the way for luxury fashion houses to embrace street style.

Tiffany luxury brand collaborations

3. Revival of a brand

“You (with co-creation) have the opportunity to surprise, delight and impress your customers, which is very energizing,” says Elisabeth von der Goltz of Net-a-Porter. At its best, this can completely revive a brand—for example, Moncler and Genius, which is a reverse process; A large but relatively specific brand relies on several creative individuals to interpret and re-read its brand codes.

4. Expanding the brand community

Julie Gilhart, a creative business consultant, pointed out the increasing collaborations in the field of sneakers: “These collaborations are a kind of rocket fuel for the huge sneaker brands, penetrating all corners of the fashion world and causing the attention and expansion of the brand community. In the case of the collaboration between Valentino and Undercover, big brands need to attract new customers and attract different global markets. Fashion collaborations not only provide interesting and impactful stories through products, but also strengthen the interaction between the personalities of the two designers. These interactions make the creativity and different perspectives of designers mix together and in the best case, designers can learn new things from each other. In general, it can be said that in the contemporary era, these collaborations are more about marketing than producing a product.”

Fashion designers as guests and collaborators

In this section, we will mention some of the co-creations and collaborations that clothing designers have had with each other or with brands to create a collection.

De Felice in Jean Paul Gaultier

Belgian Courage designer Nicolas Di Felice has been invited as a guest designer at Jean Paul Gaultier’s fall-winter 2024 show. De Filice was the seventh guest designer of this brand after the retirement of Paul Gaultier in 2020, who was invited to this brand after Simon Rocha, Julien Dossena from Raban, Haider Ackermann, Olivier Rousteing from Balmain, Glenn Martens and Chitose Abe from Sacai. became.

Video of BOF’s interview with DeFleche

Jonathan Anderson at Uniqlo

Jonathan Anderson’s JW Anderson brand collaboration with Japanese brand Uniqlo started in 2017. This collaboration was formed with the aim of providing high-quality clothes at reasonable prices to customers and brought many successes. Their latest collection for Spring Summer 2024 was titled “Visit the Artist’s Studio”.

Victoria Beckham in Mango

Victoria Beckham said about her collaboration with fast fashion brand Mango: “This collaboration allows me to reach a wider audience, in a way that is consistent with my brand and maintains its original aesthetic and identity.”

Van Noten and Lacroix

Dries Van Noten invited couture designer Christian Lacroix to design the spring 2020 collection together. This co-creation was an interesting link between two unique styles and creativity of two prominent designers.

Dries Van Noten, the poet of the fashion world

Couture in Emilio Pucci

Italian brand Emilio Pucci invited French designer Christelle Kocher as part of a program to invite guest designers to create a fresh interpretation of the brand’s identity, essence and rich heritage.

Collaboration of fashion brands with artists

Fashion has always tried to connect itself with fine arts. According to the book Philosophy of Fashion, since the 20th century and the era of Paul Poiret, art increased the designer’s cultural capital. For example, Coco Chanel supported dance performances and was associated with artists such as Picasso. In the 70s and 80s, fashion houses hired famous artists to increase their artistic credibility. Cindy Sherman had done a fashion shoot for Kome de Goghson. Or Issey Miyake entrusted the interior design of his store to the famous architect Frank Gehry.

“Such communication was beneficial for both parties. including that both parties could gain new experiences and try new ways of presenting their ideas; “Both of them could benefit by participating in another area of ​​advancement of contemporary culture in transforming the visual into the material.”

Salvador Dali and Elsa Scaparelli

Elsa Scaparelli contributed more to the art world than any other designer. The crab shirt produced by Dali and Scaparelli gave objectivity to the surrealist ideas of that time. The women who wore Scaparelli’s clothes became the embodiment of art, culture and gender.

Haring and Vivienne Westwood

In the early 1980s, Westwood’s collaboration with graffiti artist Keith Haring was reminiscent of Scaparelli’s collaborations with the surrealists; Because both of these partnerships showed the existence of a common goal and tendency between them.

Westwood and Haring were interested in street culture and challenging the accepted notions about the body, which were displayed in the form of clothes from Westwood, decorated with Haring’s designs.

In recent years, other brands such as Converse, Uniqlo, H&M, Dr. Martens and Pandora have also used this artist’s works in designing their collections.

Damon Hirst in Sarah Burton’s McQueen

Sarah Burton, who was the creative director of the brand for thirteen years after the death of Alexander McQueen, has always benefited from collaborations with artists and artisans in her work.

On the 10th anniversary of McQueen’s famous skull scarf, Damien Hirst, who had a similar artistic vision to the brand, was invited to McQueen. The result of this collaboration was 30 limited edition scarves with a skull motif made of butterflies and insects.

Jean-Michel Bascot in H&M

One of the differences of collaboration with inviting a guest designer (co-creation) is that collaboration can be done with an artist who is not alive.

Jean Michel Basquiat is one of the artists who, even after his death, many fashion brands go to create joint collections with him. He was part of the Neo-Expressionism movement in the eighties and his works with the theme of identity, race and society have been used in the products of various brands such as Kome de Goghson, Saint Laurent, Off White, Coach, Reebok, Uniqlo and now in the summer of 2024 in the new line of H-andom. .

Part of the collaboration of fashion brands with Jane Michel

Sona Fujita and Luo

Looe brand is known for cooperation with world famous artists, brands and art studios; For example, the collaboration with the Suna Fujita studio of two Japanese ceramic artists. Their works are mixed with nature, imagination and childhood memories and they are imprinted on ceramic accessories and this time on Luoeh bags.

Naomi Glass and Raf Lauren

According to the “Artist in Residence” program, Raf Lauren invites artists to create innovations in its collections. This program tries to go beyond the mere stage of inspiration from different cultures and societies and to engage in real and close cooperation with them. Naomi Glass was the first artist of this project. He updated the weaving art of Navajo (one of the American Indian tribes) inspired by his family tradition and ancestral lands and turned it into modern designs.

Ref Lauren has just announced that their next collaboration will be with Navajo artist and weaver Zefren M.

Arin Hakimi and Darsa

Darsa brand has always tried to offer a special and new product to the market by combining Iranian culture and art. In this regard, he recently collaborated with Arin Hakimi, an architect and designer. You can read the full article about this cooperation in SAARC Cabinet.

final word

The world of fashion is known to be limitless. This feature has opened the way for clothing designers to innovate and try new ways. As mentioned in this article, the collaboration between two creative minds to design a clothing collection, editorial, store space, etc. started in the 20th century and continues to this day. Guest designers today, in addition to adding freshness and creativity to a brand, also bring commercial, social and cultural benefits. There are countless examples of collaboration in the fashion world. What is your favorite collaboration? Expand the examples of this article.