Element makes ever more room for collaborations and capsule collections

By

Christel Divert

Translated by
Isabelle Crossley

Published
Sep 5, 2018

Collaborations are booming and board sports brands are not hesitating to tap into this by involving artists, riders, and other brands. Starting with its spring/ summer 2018 collections, Element has brought collaborations and capsule collections to the fore as part of its strategy to move upmarket. As such, it held a Paris pop-up store for its Element Keith Haring capsule inside the BHV Marais, stocking pieces from its Autumn/ Winter 2019 collection: T-shirts, sweaters, jackets and accessories (beanies, caps and bags) that tap the aesthetic of the New York street artist's creative oeuvre.

“This is what we call ‘Heat Stories’ internally, and which function as capsule collections launched at specific times to correspond with implementing the upscaling of the brand, with new market trends, and with our desire to tell a story,” explained Julien Duval, Element’s vice president of global marketing for Europe.

Amongst the collaborations and capsule collections presented at the Seek trade show in Berlin, the most recent is “YAWYD” which stands for “you are what you drink”, a collection for spring/ summer 2019. This collection follows on from “YAWYE”, “you are what you eat”, which was released in summer 2018. The collection included graphic designs of stickers and vintage advertisements such as the stickers found on fruit. Oranges, avocadoes, and apples with smiley faces were seen on skateboards, appliquéd on the breasts of jackets, and printed on t-shirts and sweaters. For next summer, the brand will play with the theme “juice revolution”. The wider idea with the collection was to share a healthy message to those who have the tendency to succumb to junk food, drinks included.

In other news, this time from the current season, Element is continuing its collaboration with Griffin Studio. The line was first launched for autumn/ winter 2016/ 2017, was created with Jeff Griffin’s English design studio, and focused on outdoor clothing. For the first time, this collaboration has launched a spring/ summer collection where it was previously only available for autumn/ winter. The collection includes parkas in three combined colours: navy, beige, and camouflage, also found in an eco-friendly canvas hoodie and cargo pants.

In older news, the brand’s collaboration with the American skater artist Chad Eaton, aka Timber, celebrates its 10th birthday. The multi-talented creator from Los Angeles has themed the occasion “spilt paint” and has created original illustrations exclusively in black and white. Amongst the season’s slogans, “sink or swim” features under a human-Yeti-like creature carrying a survival kit with a cap, buoy, skateboard, and paddle.

Element was launched in 1992 and was part of the Billabong group (parent company to Billabong, Rvca and Element). It was recently taken over by the Boardriders group (owner of Quiksilver, Roxy, and DC Shoes).