After the overwhelming success of their first collaboration ‘Seven Deadly Sins’ in 2019, revered Australian designer Ksubi has teamed up with New York’s Hidjiworld again to present a new capsule collection at New York Fashion Week. However, this time, they’re bringing in Travis Rogers of DNTWATCHTV to design and produce an art installation as well. Ksubi x Hidji x DNTWATCHTV present ‘My Friends and Family’, in which Hidji and Rogers will be live painting at the location, running workshops for local youth artists, as well as showcasing the top 10 entrants from Ksubi’s artist competition previously held in July. We caught up with Craig King at Ksubi to find out more. Speaking of how their partnership materialised, King commented that they “loved Hidji’s art and knew we wanted to combine it with our own aesthetic… and the Seven Deadly Sins collab was born”.
The collection itself is a 27-piece capsule titled “Family and Friends”: featuring both men’s and women’s ready-to-wear and accessories, and drawing on experiences in the schoolyard and childhood innocence. Signature Ksubi shapes, already amassing a cult following from A$AP Rocky to Kendall Jenner, are reimagined with vibrant art, graphics, and embroidery to bring the concept to life. As well as tapping into nostalgia and simplicity, central tenets of the collection, Craig King explains that Travis Rogers was called upon to “take [the collection] back to a time pre our social construct formation. He created “RECESS ENDED RACISM” suggesting that children don’t see sides to take, they just see other children prior to learning poor behaviours from adults. This notion underpinned the aesthetic from there on”.
It seems that no new collection can be produced or imagined without consideration of sustainability. We asked Ksubi how they aimed to limit their carbon footprint and stay environmentally friendly in an age where sustainability is key. King noted that “we only have one world to live in but the effects of COVID have severely impacted supply chains in the last 18 months. Aside from working with the best certified factories and using 100% recycled consumables we are constantly looking for improvements. Hopefully in the coming months supply can settle effectively and we can find further gains”. The limited run of the collection, as well as its strict 27-piece constraint, also leans into the obligation for sustainability that consumers now demand.
After the NYFW installation, the trio have no plans to slow down on this immersive intersection between fashion and art: “As we look to open more stores we see pop-ups and installations as a great way to spread our reach and support local artists”. The limited-edition capsule will be on display at the pop-up art gallery in New York this week, and will be available for purchase at Ksubi flagship stores, ksubi.com and other key retailers. The collection retail ranges from $90 – $390.
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