Miss Selfridge introduces the three-way collab


Another day, another seen-it-before high street collaboration, or so I thought. But when I rocked up to the Hed Kandi for Miss Selfridge launch I got a pleasant surprise. There in front of me was a new idea! I kid you not, Miss Selfridge has embraced an original take on the collab theme – hooking up two brands that genuinely have the same audience via an illustrator rather than yet another celebrity-in-inverted-commas. The three-way hook-up, it’s the future I tell you!

Do I sound jaded? I guess I’m just a little bit over the bandwagon-jumping of the ‘Fearne Cotton/Peaches Geldof/insert any other name here designs exclusive collection’ ilk, complete with predictable interview quote of ‘I couldn’t find anything I wanted to wear so I designed my own’. Snore. Instead, we have the creator of Hed Kandi’s iconic club babes (you know the ones, their almond eyes and lithe figures are all over the London Underground) designing a collection with the Miss Selfridge team inspired by the girls on the record CD covers. 

Not only are the ten dresses suitably sexy and body-con – perfect for the target Ibiza-loving audience – but the prints are all inspired by the graphics on various Hed Kandi compilations so everything ties very nicely together. The Hed Kandi girls are almost a story in themselves. Illustrator Jason Brooks has been sketching these long-limbed lovelies since 1999 and over the years has managed to keep up with fashion yet transcend it at the same time – no mean feat. Apart from anything else, I’m a massive fan of fashion illustration but beyond that, I love a clever marketing concept and this one is genius. Pats on backs all round…