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Jean Touitou, founder of the minimalist Parisian brand, and Louise Trotter, artistic director of the heavyweight crocodile, have collaborated to create a line of stylish yet versatile streetwear that goes on sale this Wednesday. They reminisce about their meeting and how they collaborated.
Fashion “collab” (collaboration): at first (2000s), a rare and therefore exciting partnership between designers or brands for a brief collection (known as a “capsule”) turned from jaded banality to aficionado. As proof, this spring: Marni x Uniqlo, Birkenstock x Manolo Blahnik, Nike x Hello Kitty, Gucci x Adidas, Balenciaga x Adidas, Aries x FILA, coming soon Jacquemus x Nike… The avalanche continues, suppressing all desires.
It’s a pity, because while some of them are clearly simple marketing gimmicks, others deserve to be bypassed, they are real offers. For example, between APC and Lacoste, which will go on sale (1) this Wednesday, June 8th. On paper, the tandem might surprise you, carp and rabbit style: an independent and stubborn brand, with normcore and snobbish minimalism, distributed on a small scale (APC, from Atelier de production et de creation), which teams up with heavyweight, totem and is decidedly popular in sportswear (hence Lacoste, whose polo shirt sells 4 million pieces a year), owned by the Swiss holding company Maus Frères, is also at the helm of Aigle, The Kooples and Gant.
The result (about forty pieces) is a real mix: the key elements of both are present (denim, flawless shirt, military khaki for APC; polo shirt, cap, sneakers, fir color for Lacoste), but hybridized, with an exchange of flow at the key : cleanliness is replaced by coolness, …
