Champion and Rick Owens announce fourth collaboration

Champion and Rick Owens announced the unveiling of their fourth collaboration, a collection combining heritage and contemporary aesthetics.

Launching May 26th, the capsule follows previous releases in 2019, 2021 and 2022. The longstanding collaboration is unique in the fashion industry, where many brands pair up for just one season to achieve maximum hype.

In a statement the brands said both development and production took place within a 15 kilometre radius of each company’s headquarters. Recycled and organic fabrics informed the material choices, including terry cotton, athletic mesh, crinkly nylon and organic cotton, attesting to both brands’ commitment to sustainability. Hangtags are crafted from recycled materials and fully biodegradable external garment bags aim to minimise the ecological footprint.

“When I started my label in the nineties, I hand-drew my logo, drawing inspiration from both the Champion logo and a Jean Patou perfume label,” Rick Owens said in a statement. “The vintage calligraphic flair shared by both logos, though unintentional at the time, has profoundly shaped my ongoing aesthetic—an amalgamation of American bluntness and European glam from a 1930s black-and-white film. I vividly recall my older, more fashionable cousins donning Champion sweatshirts and shorts in the seventies, etching that logo in my mind. In our collaboration, I have taken their logo that inspired mine so long ago and rendered it in luxurious 3D embroidery, adorning a range that includes sheer t-shirts, sweats, distorted hoodies, underwear, and windbreakers.”

Owens explains that the pentagram incorporated into the logo symbolizes his unwavering stance against moralistic bigotry and intolerance. Call it serendipity, the proximity of Champion’s Italian factory, situated a mere 15 kilometers from Owens’ own, enabled the production of an entirely “Made-in-Italy” collection in the same region, adhering to increasingly environmentally responsible conditions.

The collaboration reimagines everyday garments like sweatshirts, t-shirts, athletic mesh vests, shorts, underwear, and lightweight outerwear. The colour palette spans Owens’ penchant for neutral and monochrome tones, while a seasonal Dark Red hue pays homage to Champion’s archival color scheme. The logo and branding elements receive a contemporary upgrade, courtesy of a refined 3D embroidery technique.