Lending reputation through collaboration…

Jean Paul Gaultier’s rollout of co-branded collections proves that external reputations can enhance your brand image, and the latest with fashion industry-favorite stylist Lotta Volkova is a prime example. We look into that in this issue, as well as Ganni tapping a heritage brand for footwear and Balenciaga’s ongoing strategy of collaborating with music artists, contributing to its insider, creative community feel. We also explore the latest Western brands tapping local talent in China.

Please send all of your feedback and collab tips to collabs@jingdaily.com. Thanks for reading.

—Sadie Bargeron, Brand Editor

BALENCIAGA X ACID ARAB – Band merchandise, May 2

• The 336 organic mentions of this launch have an estimated reach of one million, which is low in comparison to its usual drops.

VERDICT: As part of Balenciaga’s curated Apple Music playlist and merchandise project, Acid Arab joins band Rammstein, drag icon Ru Paul and French popstar Aya Nakamura. Combining style and music, it’s a move that amplifies Balenciaga’s position as a creative tastemaker that celebrates talent; community is important among Gen Z and millenial consumers in particular so it’s a move of cultural capital.

GANNI X DR. SCHOLL – Five printed sandals, May 4

• There have been less than 10 organic posts about this collaboration, other than from the two brands.

VERDICT: It’s great timing for Ganni to launch a collaboration with the historic Italian orthopedic footwear brand, seeing as Doja Cat tweeted that she was wearing Dr. Scholls at the Harry Styles concert just weeks earlier. However, there have been zero organic mentions about it, implying that there was a low budget social campaign.

JEAN PAUL GAULTIER X LOTTA VOLKOVA – Ready-to-wear collection, May 6

• Global mentions for Jean Paul Gaultier jumped almost eight times in the 24 hours following this surprise announcement of the collection, and for Lotta Volkova, mentions rose by approximately 12 times.

VERDICT: Jean Paul Gaultier’s renewed collaborative identity has amped up the brand’s relevance, especially the Glenn Martens couture collection which spurred over 113k mentions in one day back in January.

LACOSTE x C2H4® – Clothing collection, April 29

• There’s no Weibo hashtag for this collaboration, with just 20 organic posts, and around 10 to 15 on WeChat. Interestingly, there’s more conversation on Western social media, likely due to the fact that Shanghai-born Yixi Chen of C2H4® is Los Angeles-based. 20 percent of conversation came from the UK and another 20 percent from Brazil.

VERDICT: This tennis-inspired collection by C2H4® and Lacoste has been really well received, with 100 percent positive sentiment. It fuses the heritage identity of Lacoste with C2H4®’s streetwear technicality, acting as a great route to connect with local consumers.

AMIRO X V&A MUSEUM – Mirror with gift-box, May 5

• The post by Amiro with the highest engagement mentioning this collaboration was about a competition to win the co-branded mirror and gift box, with over 1k likes.

VERDICT: This is a fail-safe move for the Victoria & Albert Museum, tapping into a really popular Chinese brand in a relevant way. A mirror collaboration is perfectly plucked from the Alice Through the Looking Glass novel.

RIMOWA X VANILLA CHI – Five-piece sticker collection, May 9

• Rimowa has not gained any online engagement through this announcement, but has also not posted anything on Western social media as of yet. The two posts on Rimowa’s official Weibo account attracted just four likes in total.

VERDICT: RIMOWA connects to one of its largest consumer-bases: the Chinese luxury consumer, through working with a local talent and donating proceeds to the China Green Foundation. Newly-established illustrator Vanilla Chi has previously collaborated with the New York Times, the Fiu Gallery, The New Yorker, and The Wizard of Oz, to name a few.

LESSONS IN COLOR FOR LUXURY AND CHINA

From Millennial pink to Gen Z green, colors define the mood and fashion trends of every era. And according to the latest collaborative Key Colors Forecast hosted by WGSN and color system Coloro, 2024’s going to be full of bold, digital-ready tones, relaxing hues, and warm brights. Jing Collabs & Drops looks at what this means for consumers, China and luxury

Read the article here

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All social media data is sourced from social listening tool Digimind.