THE BEST STREETWEAR X TOY DESIGN COLLABORATIONS (Part 3 : In Europe)

Even if Europe's toy design and streetwear scene is less productive than its American or Japanese neighbours, it can count on 2 major brands at the origin of the streetwear / lifestyle movement of the 80s: Adidas and Puma. Both brands were created by two Germans brothers: Adolf "Adi" Dassler and Rudolf "Rudi" Dassler. After a common experience in the development of running shoes for athletes initiated in 1924, tensions arose and they separated in 1948. In the wake of this, one founded Adidas and the other Puma.

The Adidas adventure began in earnest in 1950 and the first shoe was a football boot, the Samba. The first clothes were made in the 1960s. In the 1970s, the brand became lifestyle and its popularity grew in the 1980s, especially thanks to showbiz and artists / musicians like RunDMC, who dedicated their song "My A.D.I.D.A.S" to the brand in 1986. In the wake of this, Adidas signed with Run-DMC the first artist sponsorship deal in its history. Since then, Adidas has become Europe's largest sportswear brand, and it has multiplied its prestigious and eclectic partnerships, from Lego to Manchester United, from Prada to Palace Skateboards... The Yeezy collection developed in partnership with Kanye West or the NMD Hu line with Pharrell William have really helped to anchor Adidas in the modern era of streetwear.

One of Adidas' first Toy Design projects was created by Hong Kong artist Michael Lau in 2003. The "Lamdogstar IV" pack, limited to 200 pieces, includes 2 figurines, a stylized 6inch vinyl Superstar and it all fits in side a nifty shoe box!

As part of its Adicolor program, Adidas then developed a number of Qee editions with the Hong Kong Art Toys producer Toy2R, a serious competitor of Medicom Toy in the 2000s.

Adidas also collaborated with Hong Kong artist Eric So for a figure edition featuring artist and comedian Edison Chen in 2011. Shortly before, they celebrated the 60th anniversary of Adidas with a series of 6 Trexis, designed especially for the Asian region.

At the beginning of 2020, Adidas started a long-term collaboration with Filipino artist Juanito Maiquez, better known as Quiccs, who has been very familiar with the 3-stripes brand since he was very young.A first series of 3 models approved by the brand will thus be edited, in 3 sizes each: the MegaTEQ 12″, the TEQ63 6″ and the MicroTEQ 3″, all carefully packaged in shoe boxes cut to scale.

At the same time, Quiccs has designed a new model, the NanoTEQ, which it will adapt to the new Adidas models.

The consecration is a Forum Low "TEQ63", a collaborative project between Quiccs and Adidas in 2021.

Rudolf Dassler founded PUMA in 1948 and soon enjoyed a great reputation among sportsmen and women, especially footballers. Eusébio, Pelé and later Maradona will acclaim Puma. The brand also set records in athletics and entered the textile business in the late 1960s. The Puma Clyde, the first basketball shoe, was released in 1973, and tennis also became a staple for the brand at this time. The lifestyle era began in earnest in 1998 with the Puma x Jil Sander collaboration, which marked a real turning point. Today, Puma collaborates with Rihanna (Fenty), Dua Lipa, Liberty, The Hundreds... the brand is totally integrated in the current streetwear landscape and the collaborations with Toy Designers Kiddo or Michael Lau are masterpieces.

Like his South Korean alter-ego Coolrain Lee, Kiddo has made a specialty of streetwear action figures. He worked with Puma on 2 series of action figures for the Arttoy Culture Seoul event in 2014 and 2015.

In 2018, on the occasion of Puma's 50th anniversary, Honk-Kong artist Michael Lau designed several models of sneakers, apparel and accessories for a series titled "SAMPLE". The complete capsule collection was released in 2020.

SILAS (& MARIA) is a lesser-known British streetwear brand, but it is nonetheless a European pioneer in the Toy Design revolution. Silas owes its reputation to English artist/illustrator James Jarvis. Together, in 1998, they created the character Martin, and began to produce him on vinyl, supported by Bounty Hunter in Japan. The result was a long list of vinyl editions and new Silas characters such as Evil Martin, Bubba, Tattoo Me Keith and The Bearded Prophet. The Lars character and the policeman were released under the World of Pain banner. Medicom Toy will be paying tribute to these characters from 2004 with 2 series of Be@rbricks.

Hardy Blechman also has a strong connection with Hong-Kong artist Michael Lau, as demonstrated by the many collaborations between Maharishi / Maha Toys and Crazy Smile (Michael Lau's label). Boy.D, DJ Panda, MR.Shoe, NYFatcap, Toobigfoot, Pascagoula Alien, the XLAUGH (X-Large) characters, Futura/Womax... have all been produced in Maharishi versions. Hardy Blechman has also been honoured with a Gardener in his likeness - the Wooden Gardener 102 - and several joint exhibitions have completed the unique dimension of this collaboration.

American Street Artist FUTURA 2000 also dedicated the Brown Camo edition of its Nosferatu Pointant 15'' to Maharashi.

Among Maharishi's other memorable Toy Design collaborations, it's hard not to mention the Mr.A cuddly toy by Graffiti Artist André Saraïva, published in 2005, or the series of Megga America Priest figurines created with artist/skater Mark Gonzales in 2006.

In the high-end sportswear sector, the Italian company MONCLER (of French origin) has produced numerous Toy Design projects since its beginnings, and this became even more pronounced after its Lifestyle turn in the early 2000s.The "Destination Hong-Kong" project was rolled out in 2017 to mark the opening of the shop in Hong-Kong and the release of a special collection in silver tones inspired by the 1970s. To mark the event, New York street artist Craig Costello - a.k.a KRINK - customised 350 Mr. Moncler figures and no fewer than 10,000 Mr. Moncler figures measuring around 50cm were positioned in several key locations in Hong Kong.

Since 2018, Moncler Genius has been evolving its concept of collaborations into a co-creation platform, by pushing the boundaries of what is possible at the intersection of Art, Design, Entertainment, Music, Sport and Culture. From American psyche-pop artist Steve Harrington to extravagant British designer Craig Green, Irish artist J.W. Anderson and Hiroshi Fujiwara with Fragment Design, almost every capsule collection is enhanced by figures or sculptures.

Under the artistic direction of Francesco Ragazzi (Palm Angels), Moncler has launched a series of Pop-Up Stores in Milan, Paris and Tokyo for the 2019 capsule collections. In addition to the collections, each Concept Store offered limited editions of accessories or objects, installations or various artistic events. Numerous other Pop-Up Stores have since sprung up, with toys and sculptures still often taking centre stage.

Alongside Moncler Genius, the brand is developing targeted collaborations, such as the one with Chinese mini-figure giant Pop Mart in early 2022. Emblematic of Moncler Grenoble's expertise, Space Molly showcases the brand's technical, design and lifestyle spirit, and Molly is also a very popular character in China. The 30" (75cm) edition, limited to 2,000 pieces for China, naturally aroused the enthusiasm of local collectors.

Monduck is Moncler's historic mascot since 1952 and one of the symbols retained by the current management team. It has been revisited on numerous occasions and was even the subject of a comic strip for the brand's 60th anniversary. Among the most memorable works on Monduck is one by British street artist Stuart Semple for Art Basel Miami 2008, which was auctioned off to benefit a children's charity in 2009. Japanese designer Kei Ninomiya (Noir Kei Ninomiya/ Comme des garçons) hijacked Monduck for his Genius capsule collection in 2018.

Mr. Mrs. Moncler are the ambassadors of the Moncler brand, embodying both the tradition and modernity of the brand. Their silhouettes are sometimes revisited and they stand proudly in the windows according to the collections or events.

In 2020, the Staple Pigeon x FILA collaboration produced 2 pairs of Sneakers and a magnificent Designer Toy made with the American producer Toycube. In 2021, Salomon called on Hong Kong artist Jim Dreams for 2 colourful editions of the Chunk character, produced by Unbox Industries, also based in Hong Kong.

Salomon, like other European Streetwear/Sportswear brands such as Dr. Martens, Fred Perry, Lacoste or A-Cold-Wall and Acronym at the top end of the market, have also collaborated with Medicom Toy on special editions of Be@rbricks. The Be@rbrick is not yet as popular in Europe as it is in Asia or the United States, but its popularity has grown considerably on the continent in recent years.

IV - FASHION DESIGNERS BY TOY DESIGNERS

Streetwear Designers are sometimes as iconic as certain brands, and it is not uncommon for other designers or toy designers to pay tribute to them.Danil Yad is a Russian Toy Designer / 3D sculptor and founder of the YARMS design studio. He regularly works on limited vinyl editions with Singapore-based Art Toys producer Mighty Jaxx. He recently revealed himself with his "Authors" collection, dedicated to personalities. The collection features contemporary artists such as Murakami, Kaws, Daniel Arsham and Shepard Fairey, as well as sportsmen and women such as F1 stars and football players from Borussia Dortmund and Manchester City. Danyl Yad has also dedicated 2 series to fashion and shoe designers. The figures in the series all have the same break, they are stylized in the same way, the clothes and shoes are deliberately recognizable and they systematically carry in their arms 1 element which characterizes them, very often a pair of sneakers. Tinker Hatfield, the famous Nike designer, opened the ball and he had the right to several editions, sometimes in Jordan 3 and 11 or with Air Max I and Air Jordan XI "Bred". Jeff Staple (Staple Design) and his famous Nike SB Pigeon Dunks or Virgil Abloh and his Jordan 1 Retro and Jordan 5 Off-White followed suit. Adidas is also well represented in the series with MrBailey and his Ozlucent or Sean Wotherspoon and his Superstar Superearth.

Other fashion and shoe designers were also honoured by Danil Yad, such as Salehe Bembury, director of sneakers and men's shoes at Versace, Errolson Hugh (Acronym Designer), Yoon Han (Ambush Design) or Joshua Vides (CLCC). Artemy Lebedev (Studio Lebedev) was rewarded for his influence in Russia, a country dear to Danil Yad.

Coolrain Lee, the famous toy designer from Seoul, specialises in streetwear action figure 12" and sneaker miniatures. He has done a lot of work for Nike and he has also chosen to dedicate 3 creations to fashion designers in his own way.For the launch of the Nike Air Fear of God sneaker and apparel collection in Seoul, Coolrain Lee designed a 12" Action Figure of Jerry Lorenzo, the founder of the American streetwear brand Fear of Gold. He is wearing a Nike x Fear of God tracksuit, paired with the Nike Air Fear of God 1 "Yellow".Coolrain also paid tribute to Salehe Bembury, designer at Versace. The character is dressed as usual, with the iconic Bembury grey beanie, one of Supreme's indigo kung fu jackets, a Nike t-shirt, tie-dye tracksuit bottoms and a pair of Versace Chain Reaction trainers.

For Comme des Garçons Seoul's exclusive pop-up for the Virgil Abloh x Nike "The Ten" collection, Coolrain created a limited edition figure of rockstar designer Virgil Abloh, wearing Off-White clothing and a pair of red and white Air Jordan 1.

V-Artoyz Factory

Artoyz Factory is the division of Artoyz dedicated to collaborations and Toy Design projects On Demand for brands, Pop Culture industries and art galleries.

With a creative studio in Paris, Artoyz Factory conceives, designs and models all types of Toy Design projects. Artoyz Factory has production facilities in Europe and China, for mass or limited editions of large sculptures.

If you have any questions or projects, please contact: factory@artoyz.com