MINI presented a limited-run sweatshirt collection at the 90th Pitti Uomo in Florence – one of the most important international fairs for men’s fashion and contemporary lifestyle. The MINI FLUID FASHION Capsule Collection developed with five young, innovative labels consists of five sweatshirts displaying five distinct designs.
“The MINI brand has acted as a standard-bearer for iconic design and individual lifestyles since its earliest days. Driving a MINI is a statement of style and identity, which is one reason why the brand has had a close connection with the fashion world since the 1960s,” explains Esther Bahne, Head of Brand Strategy and Business Innovation at MINI.
With the MINI Gentleman’s Collection, a six-item range of accessories for the modern chap still fresh in the mind, this year MINI showed an all-sweatshirt collection. The MINI FLUID FASHION Capsule Collection is limited to 200 pieces per design and available exclusively from Luisa Via Roma’s online store from mid-June.
Design collaborations have always been an important tool for MINI when it comes to developing its perspectives on fashion and design and, in so doing, making new discoveries. To this end, MINI FLUID FASHION combines the design expertise of MINI with strong input from young labels based in five different countries.
The selected designers have translated the optimistic, open attitude of the MINI brand into modish statements on sweatshirts designed by MINI. It is an approach emphasised by the choice of the sweatshirt as the canvas for the designs. A sweatshirt is something both men and women can wear and is one of the most “democratic” and ubiquitous items of clothing out there. It exists in a place beyond categorisation, as a fashion classic equally at home on the street or in collections from major designers.
MINI has also gone its own, unconventional way in the fashion designers it has selected for the job at hand. Their latest collections brim with exciting designs, challenge assumptions and, in the process, overcome barriers within our minds. HIEN LE (Germany), Agi & Sam (UK), Études Studio (France), SANKUANZ (China) and Sunnei (Italy) all created one sweatshirt each.
Pitti Immagine is a fashion-focused fair held in Italy every year. And the Pitti Uomo show, which focuses exclusively on men’s fashion, has taken place in Florence twice every year since 1972. The events promote young, aspiring and sometimes unconventional fashion labels. The collaboration between MINI and Pitti Immagine, which has been running since January 2015, spans a range of projects.
One of the major talents identified by MINI and Pitti at the 87th Pitti Uomo was young designer Alberto Premi, who subsequently presented his innovative shoe collection in a Special MINI Edition at the Salone del Mobile in April 2015. MINI provided evidence of how its philosophy has spread beyond the automotive world at Pitti Uomo 88 in June 2015. There, MINI teamed up with six talented young Italians to design the MINI Gentleman’s Collection – a six-item Capsule Collection combining Italian craftsmanship with creative and innovative details.
MINI and Pitti joined forces once again at Pitti 89 in January 2016 to advance the cause of international fashion talents. MINI used the occasion to debut “The Latest Fashion Buzz”, a platform showcasing a selection of international designers who bring new and modern ideas to the menswear sector.