Madewell has teamed with Santa Barbara-based model and retailer Ace Rivington on a denim and attire capsule that celebrates the Central California area’s historical past in racing.
“Classic speedsters and old-school denim” are the inspiration behind the collaboration, Ace Rivington founder Beau Lawrence instructed Rivet. The eight-piece males’s vary is made up of denims, T-shirts, sweatshirts, and equipment with colours and motifs impressed by traditional automotive tradition and the world’s legendary racetracks.
“Beau got here up with a slot-car racing concept for the graphics and in-store expertise,” stated Mary Pierson, Madewell’s senior vice chairman of denim design. “We liked the nostalgia that the classic speedsters graphics evoked, and needed to tie these items again to the right pair of denims.”
Lawrence’s private connections to racing run deep, having spent a childhood behind the wheel of a slot automotive. “Again once I was a child, and now with my youngsters, there’s nothing fairly like organising the observe and racing with everybody on the identical degree,” he stated. As soon as a racetrack, the Santa Barbara Airport, the place the Ace Rivington warehouse is positioned, was the situation of “Insurgent With no Trigger” star and motorsport fanatic James Dean’s ultimate race in his Porsche Speedster in 1955.
“Storytelling is on the basis of what evokes me and Ace Rivington as a model,” Lawrence stated. “With Madewell because the chief in denim, I needed to carry the historical past of Ace Rivington to create a significant collaboration that speaks to each of our worlds.”
Pierson stated the companions’ “prompt chemistry” stemmed from “widespread values” surrounding denim—specifically, performance, model and sustainability. “We determined that we needed to create a set that centered round denim with an incredible match and wash,” she stated. “We blended vintage-inspired components with fashionable know-how to include sustainability into each piece.”
To create the gathering’s Slim Jean—a tackle the traditional straight match with additional room within the seat and thigh—the manufacturers used a mixture of 55 % Tencel lyocell, recycled cotton, natural cotton, and recycled stretch fibers. “We additionally used a sustainable washing method that makes use of lasers, bubbles, and an ozone therapy,” Pierson stated, citing water and chemical administration as a manufacturing precedence for the companions.
“The graphic tees and trucker hat are my favorites,” Lawrence added, pointing to the car-themed graphics emblazoned on every. “We had enjoyable subtly nodding to each manufacturers by means of the gathering items to proceed to carry the story to life.” For instance, the Slim Denims are an up to date tackle Madewell’s in-line males’s slim denim silhouette. In the meantime, the T-shirts and sweatshirts, made utilizing natural cotton and a low-impact dyeing course of, replace the J.Crew-owned model’s best-selling Allday crewneck T-shirt and French terry sweatshirt.
The road, which retails for $45-$228, is on the market on Madewell’s e-commerce web site and choose males’s shops, together with the Abbot Kinney and newly opened Silverlake areas in Los Angeles, Austin, Texas, and the model’s New York flagship within the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn.
Pierson stated that the collaboration is part of Madewell’s effort to raise and increase its males’s assortment, which launched in late 2018. The model has taken a focused strategy to reaching male customers, making a males’s vertical on its web site and opening shops that inventory solely males’s attire. “It’s been such a pleasure working with Beau on this assortment, and as we proceed to construct out our males’s choices, we’re open to the concept of extra potential collaborations sooner or later,” Pierson stated. Including that “Nothing is off the desk” for future endeavors between Ace Rivington and Madewell, Lawrence stated that “a enjoyable story and unbelievable merchandise have introduced pleasure and power” to this season’s launch.
Auto-themed attire seems to be resonating throughout the attire house. Los Angeles denim label Re/Accomplished in July launched a partnership and capsule assortment with Ford Motor Firm, celebrating the debut of its electrical F-150 Lightning truck. The team-up between the model recognized for refurbishing reclaimed denim and the Detroit car-maker sought to advertise “aware consumption” whereas referencing old-school Americana. The gathering of utility jumpsuits, upcycled Levi’s sizzling shorts, denims, jackets and equipment featured purple, white and blue patchwork and deadstock materials taken from traditional T-shirts.
Earlier this month, tradition and life-style platform Highsnobiety and German automotive producer RUF Vehicle unveiled their very own assortment of attire and equipment. Graphic T-shirts, shorts, work pants and a varsity jacket integrated the sportscar producer’s signature forest inexperienced colour method together with co-branding and imagery of its most celebrated builds. The gathering’s standout was a TAG Heuer Carrera x Bamford x RUF x Highsnobiety watch, retailing for $7,785. Customers may additionally rating accoutrements for his or her vehicles, together with a key chain and rearview mirror air freshener.
Automobile-themed capsules have been dropping steadily for a number of seasons. Streetwear model Kith and luxurious automotive firm BMW got here collectively for an intensive collaboration that included 96 items of attire, from knitwear to racing jackets, nylon observe fits, suede bomber jackets and graphic hoodies and T-shirts in fall of 2020. Kith founder Ronnie Fieg even labored with the German automaker’s crew on two one-of-a-kind vehicles, the 1989 BMW M3 E30 Ronnie Fieg Version and the 2021 BMW M4 Design Examine by Kith, which sported the label’s branding in an all-over monogram print throughout the automotive’s inside.
The 2020 fall season additionally noticed Tommy Hilfiger and Mercedes-Benz launch a menswear capsule of outerwear, attire and equipment, which included components like climate-control finishes, seamed seals, rubberized tapes and Velcro closures, mirroring the vehicles’ efficiency options.