Artists, architects and designers help give fashion brands creative image
From art installations to bespoke store designs and reimagining products, brands are reinventing themselves.
Think of Swarovski and no longer is it just kitsch sparkly miniature mice and swans that come to mind. The Austrian cut crystal company is now just as likely to be associated with design leaders such as Naoto Fukasawa, John Pawson and Pritzker prize-winning Rem Koolhaas.
The transformation - led by the fifth-generation Nadja Swarovski - heralds an extension of the 120-year-old family-owned company's successful reinvention within the fashion industry during the late 1990s, placing emphasis on interiors, art and culture, helping attract a much wider and influential demographic.
The 45-year-old Nadja says it was while working with highly creative fashion personalities such as British editor Isabella Blow and designer Alexander McQueen that she first appreciated how creative collaborations with designers often brought new appreciation of crystals.
Since introducing an experimental design platform - Swarovski Crystal Palace - in 2002, the brand has commissioned a series of high-profile creative projects, including Zaha Hadid's striking "Prima" art sculpture installation to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the architect's first building, the Vitra Design Museum in Germany.
More recently, Swarovski turned to local Hong Kong architect Joyce Wang with a commission to reimagine the classic chandelier. Wang's sleek egg-shaped silhouette, titled "Oculus" and featuring 60 crystal spikes and 300 crystal chatons, was shown to critical acclaim at Art Basel Hong Kong's new satellite show, Art Central, earlier this year.
