Already sitting on top in the Korean fashion scene, SONGZIO garnered the nickname “King of Collaborations” with its highly coveted partnerships with A-list names such as Disney, Tim Burton, Pixar to Kpop artists like Mino and Peanuts.
Collaboration today has become an almost essential part of the fashion world. To perfectly matching brands/artists to the most unexpected collaborations, it is what brings a breath of fresh air to the scene.
In South Korea, SONGZIO is at the forefront of the country’s most coveted collaboration scene. As the first Korean designer brand to collaborate with international brands and household names, SONGZIO has been restlessly launching collaborations creating a cultural and commercial stir season after season.
SONGZIO’s first collaboration, which in some ways rejuvenated this 30-year legacy brand back into the youth’s spotlight, was with Disney for its 2020 Spring/Summer collection. Using the somewhat underappreciated origin character “Oswald” along with other old school Disney characters, Jay Songzio created this collaboration’s own original artwork.
In fact, SONGZIO is a brand that starts every season on a canvas rather than on a piece of paper, to create the season’s artwork that would serve as the center piece of the collection. This process was evidently brought on to this special collaboration as well in order to achieve the most authentic collaboration, not simply a brand on to another.
This artwork was then meticulously embroidered, and silk screened from SONGZIO’s in house artisanal ateliers in Seoul emphasizing the savoir faire of this youthful legacy brand.
SONGZIO x Disney collection, which started very small, sold out in just one evening selling about 3000 pieces within the first hours of the launch. SONGZIO then quickly expanded this collaboration to a wider range of designs for the season.
This collaboration became a turning point for SONGZIO, playing an important role in the brand’s new creative director Jay Songzio, successfully reviving the youth appeal of the brand.
While Disney at first seemed like a mismatch for SONGZIO given the brand’s dark romantic -even goth like- aesthetics, Tim Burton was from the very start a perfect match. Using Tim Burton’s original characters from “The Nightmare Before Christmas”, SONGZIO created the collaboration’s series of unique artworks.
After another overwhelming commercial and critical hit, SONGZIO then went on to collaborate with one of Korea’s most well-known stars, MINO for its 21SS season, then Jungnam Bae, one of Korea’s style icons, for its Fall/Winter 2021 collection, all selling out within minutes of release and establishing SONGZIO as the “king of collaboration” in Korean fashion industry.
Now to the present, 2022 was another year full of exciting collaborations for the brand.
SONGZIO became the first Korean designer brand to collaborate with Pixar. Using Pixar’s most well-known animation, Toy Story, Songzio created the “toy studio” collaboration for its 22ss collection. Infusing Toy Story with SONGZIO’s dark aesthetics, this collaboration received particular critical acclaim.
This seasonal collaboration, which in a way became an integral part of SONGZIO’s DNA, was then adopted by ZZERO (SONGZIO’s youth label created in 2022 by Jay Songzio). For its Spring/Summer 2022 collection, ZZERO launched “Black Snoopy” collaboration with Peanuts causing yet again a stir in Korea’s fashion scene.
Season after season, SONGZIO surprises and sweeps Korean fashion lovers with its unique collaborations, a concept the brand seeks to bring to its new home in Paris.
Having shown its first collection in Paris men’s fashion week this June for its Spring/Summer 2023 collection, SONGZIO is set to show its first collaboration for the international market very soon.
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