Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Karen Walker, meet Fred Perry


The iconic Fred Perry shirt, one of the world's most recognisable, has just turned 60 years of age. To celebrate the brand asked '60 of its most loyal and distinguished fans' to furnish a birthday shirt to celebrate. The selection is deliciously diverse, from Raf Simons, Collette and Inez and Vinoodh to Damon Albarn, the world's greatest bike rider Sir Bradley Wiggins, Neville Brody and Nitzer Ebb among others. The fact that New Zealand designer Karen Walker has been selected as one of the collaborators is testament to her standing as not only a fashion designer, but a creative thinker. The designs range from Damon Albarn's incredibly simple '60' moniker to UK designer Sister by Sibling's relatively complex Fred Perry shirt/dress/tutu so it is great to see that Walker's design (pictured) looks and feels so very Karen Walker. The entire collection can be viewed on the Fred Perry microsite and in collaboration with Dover Street Market and set designer Andy Hillman some will be displayed in an exhibition at DSM on Jan 26, before the installation travels to DSM Ginza and I.T Beijing after the London event. Admirably, the collection will be auctioned to raise money for the Amy Winehouse Foundation later this year.