When reminiscing back to our childhood, we often recollect a picture of us embracing a teddy bear covered with the softest fluff in one arm, and often, with a cone of ice-cream in another – and so does Kai, or Kim Jong-in of Exo. The K-pop singer and dancer’s favourite animal from his juniority has now been brought back to life, but this time, into the Gucci world – and in the very much Gucci way.
The ‘Kai x Gucci’ collection, designed by Gucci’s Creative Director Alessandro Michele, is presented with a selection of men’s and women’s ready-to-wear clothing, bags and accessories mixed with the fashion house’s patterns, and the resonant pop culture inspired by Kai, the Teddy Bear.
Clothing – Men
For men’s fashion, we see a blue-tied teddy bear painting the whimsicality onto the collection. From lightweight nylon canvas blousons, eco stone-washed denim jackets, and wool/cotton jacquard-patterned crew necks and cardigans to shirts in cotton, silk twill or woollen check, canvas beige chinos, denim jeans, and zip-up tracksuit tops, there’s certainly enough teddybear-ness in one’s closet.
Clothing – Women
For women, the collection sees a wide selection of outfits consisting of zip-up nylon hooded and crew-neck outerwear styles, a wool/cotton oversized V-neck and crew-neck cardigan with stripes, a fine cotton/silk series available in ivory and blue including a cardigan jacket and a polo-neck top with short sleeves. Followed by a crew-neck sweater, an A-line skirt and a mini dress, denim jeans and shorts, as well as a jersey selection characterised by a relaxed, street wear attitude.
Bags and Accessories
This limited edition partnership also introduces the Kai Teddy Bear – either one or all-over – onto the bags, as well as luggage that are printed on beige/ebony GG supreme canvas. For luggage, there’s a small tote, a small backpack, a belt bag, a camera case, a portfolio, a medium duffle, a large suitcase and a small hat case. While for handbags, there’s a medium-sized tote, a mini bucket bag, a mini-squared shoulder bag and a small-rounded shoulder bag. Including small leather goods, such as card cases, wallets, mini bags, pouches and cosmetics cases. Of which, all the styles are trimmed with burnt-orange leather along with an internal orange leather tag with gold lettering.
For sneakers, all feature a teddy bear patch namely, Ace sneakers, chunky Rhyton sneakers and the Gucci Tennis 1977 V sneakers. What’s more, a baseball cap and bucket hat are also seen surfacing on decorative-patterned GG supreme canvas, with a single teddy bear on the cap and multiple ones on the hat.
The Gucci’s latest campaign with Kai, dressed from top-to-toe in the new ‘Kai x Gucci’ Collection, was taking part on the streets of Seoul, where he’s accompanied by a giant teddy and surrounded by a teddy bear squad as he enjoys a day – to celebrate the relationship between humans and their fluffy, furry friends.
CREDITS
Creative Director: Alessandro Michele
Art Director: Sarah-Jayne Todd
Photographer: Min Hyunwoo
Film Director: Woogie Kim
