The cofounders believed that a person willing to buy luxury goods would also be willing to buy cheap t-shirts, socks and random art pieces in the same retail space.[2]
History
Carol Lim began her own fashion line Opening Ceremony in New York in September 2002. The Tokyo store, located in Shibuya, was ranked by American magazine Complex as the 4th best store in the world in 2013.
On January 13, 2020, the company was acquired by New Guards Group, a cartel that owns Off-White and other well-known streetwear brands. On January 14, Lim and Leon announced that the company's retail stores would be closing at some point in the year.
Ready-to-wear Spring 2016 collection
The New York City Ballet logo
In 2015, Opening Ceremony held its Ready-to-wear Spring 2016 fashion show in a live garden to showcase their upcoming assortment of outfits.[3] Instead of models walking down the runway as usual, they purposely collapsed to the ground and rose up into a contemporary dance choreographed by Justin Peck, resident choreographer for the New York City Ballet.[3]
With an overarching theme of ballet, architecture and exotic travel away from home, the collection included Asian Bonsai tree embroidery, African textiles, khaki cargo pants and dresses, and Moorish arches inspired structural silhouettes.[3]
Ready-to-wear collections, as the name suggests, encompass clothes that are immediately ready to be sold in a store. Unlike bespoke clothing, these clothes are produced in standard sizes that fit most people and require little to no alterations.
Fall 2017 collection
For their Fall 2017 collection, the runway show incorporated an original dance piece that outlined the timeline of couples’ romantic relationships. The artistic vision was directed by Humberto Leon’s close friend Spike Jonze and choreographed by Ryan Heffington.[4] Actors and actresses dressed in Opening Ceremony’s Fall collection, guided the audience through the ups and downs of monogamy.
The collection progresses throughout the dance piece, with the timeline of the couple’s journey. A formal black and white dress for when the couple first starts dating to, conservative and baggy clothes when there is emotional mishap between the couple.[4]
Fall collections are showcased during February and March internationally.[5] They persist of clothes that are suitable for the Autumn and Winter seasons- coats, knits, etc.
Spring 2018 collection
The collection was presented after-hours at Disneyland’s Toontown.[6] In honour of Mickey Mouse’s 90th birthday, Lim and Leon collaborated with Disney products to showcase a festive and vibrant collection, featuring a marching band and runway walks by Mickey and Minnie Mouse.[6]
Drawing from all the latest trends, the designers presented a range of crafty knitwear, sporty graphics, prairie dresses and carpenter pants infused with enlarged and repeated prints of Mickey.[7]
Spring 2019 collection
Le Poisson Rouge
Held at Le Poisson Rouge was one of Opening Ceremony’s most eccentric shows, ‘The Gift of Showz’.[8] A drag spectacle featuring renowned drag queens: Sasha Velour, Shea Couleé, West Dakota, Lypsinka and 40 others.[8] The show finale was opened by Christina Aguilera accompanied by other drag queens and a festive atmosphere. The brand hosted a fashion show uncommon in the fashion industry in hopes to represent different genders and sexual preferences.[8]
Leon and Lim merged their own experience on vacations, to imitate a fantastical journey for their Spring 2019 clothing. A repetition of flowy summer frocks and funky floral prints, toned down with all-black outfits are observed.[9]
Spring collections are showcased in September and consist of clothes like dresses, skirts and shorts.[5]
2020 onwards
In 2020, online retailer Farfetch’s New Guards Group purchased Opening Ceremony and will be taking over the brand.[10] With 18 years of history in the retail market, the brand has decided to close all their physical stores around the world. A huge factor that played into this decision was the rapid change in consumer behaviour and shopping habits.[11]
Asian culture
For their 2019 February fashion look-book, the co-founders recognised their Asian heritage and culture, by recruiting Asian-American pioneers as their muses.
Leon and Lim, both of Asian descent, were inspired by their own and others' journeys of succeeding in an environment where Asians are a minority. The look-book features different Asian pioneers from a range of industries, like the music and culinary industry. Musician and composer Ryuichi Sakamoto, chef Angela Dimayuga, and designer Anna Sui were of the few featured.[12]
Collaborations
In 2010, the brand collaborated with Maison Margiela, a French luxury fashion house.[13] This collaboration was Maison Margiela's first co-branded project in its history. The product outcome was a white Bic pen with the classic Maison Margiela labelling and a plume.[13] The two brands decided to further collaborate in 2011 and designed a whole womenswear line for Margiela's MM6 label.[13]
In 2017, Opening Ceremony teamed up with the New York City Ballet. Dressed in the brand's casual attire, ballerinas performed their new ballet ‘The Times Are Racing’.[14] The collaboration between the two companies was to portray the juxtaposition between the collectedness of ballet and free-lived expression of people on the streets.
Also in 2017, Esprit] and Opening Ceremony created a collection of clothes that advocated for both brands’ values towards family and unity.[15] For their model line-up, the brand cast sons and daughters of famous figures like Kim Gordon and Mario Sorrenti.
An unexpected collaboration was in 2018 with Crosby studios, a Moscow-based design studio.[16] In lieu of New York Design week, Opening Ceremony and the design studio merged contemporary with playful aesthetics to create a collection of tables, chairs and other small furniture pieces in a monochromatic royal purple colour.[13]
Creative directors for Kenzo
Kenzo logo
In 2011, Lim became the creative director of the brand Kenzo, owned by the multinational corporation, LVMH.
After collaborations with multiple brands, the two designers wanted to work further with individual brands, as they thought they could "affect the bigger business."[17] Everyone turned them down except brand Kenzo.
The designers prepared and presented a pitch in a short amount of time. Their pitch focused on specific alternations of the brand if the two had authoritative power. From the Kenzo experience, aesthetics, interior design of stores to marketing strategies, the duo's attention to detail and long-term vision gave them their new position as the creative directors of Kenzo.
In 2019, Leon and Lim were removed from their positions as co-creative directors at Kenzo. Their last show was on June 23 for Kenzo's 2020 Spring collection.[18]
Ann Verhelst, known professionally as Ann Demeulemeester, is a Belgian fashion designer whose label, Ann Demeulemeester, is mainly showcased at the annual Paris Fashion Week. She is known as one of the Antwerp Six in the fashion industry.
Kenzō Takada was a Japanese fashion designer living in France. He founded Kenzo, a worldwide clothing brand, that also markets skin care and perfumes, Takada was the honorary president of the Asian Couture Federation.
Phillip Lim is an American fashion designer of Chinese descent whose parents immigrated to America from Cambodia during the Cambodian genocide. Lim co-founded and worked at the Los Angeles-based fashion label Development from 2000 to 2004. In the fall of 2005, he co-founded 3.1 Phillip Lim with friend and business partner Wen Zhou, becoming the company's creative representative.
Celine is a French luxury fashion house founded in 1945 by designer Céline Vipiana. The headquarters are located at 16 rue Vivienne in the 2nd arrondissement of Paris at the Hôtel Colbert de Torcy, which has French Historic Monument classification. Séverine Merle has been the Chief Executive Officer since April 2017.
Kenzo is a French luxury fashion house founded in 1970 by Japanese designer Kenzo Takada and owned by parent company LVMH.
Tao Okamoto, known professionally as Tao, is a Japanese actress and model, who is, alongside Ai Tominaga and Hiroko Matsumoto, one of the biggest models from Japan. In 2009, she was one of the faces of Ralph Lauren.
Ralph & Russo is a European, privately held company owned and founded by Tamara Ralph and Michael Russo. Ralph & Russo is a high fashion house that specializes in haute couture and ready-to-wear clothes, luxury goods, and fashion accessories.
Felipe Oliveira Baptista is a Portuguese fashion designer. He lives and works in Paris.
Steven Alan is an American fashion designer from New York City. His eponymous brand is sold online.
Risto Bimbiloski is a Macedonian fashion designer based in Paris, founder and creative director of Risto. He defines his style as Acidchique.
Maison Margiela, formerly Maison Martin Margiela, is a French luxury fashion house founded by Belgian designer Martin Margiela and Jenny Meirens in 1988 and headquartered in Paris. The house produces both haute couture-inspired artisanal collections and ready-to-wear collections, with the former influencing the designs of the latter. Product lines include womenswear, menswear, jewellery, footwear, accessories, leather goods, perfumes and household goods. Known for deconstructive and avant-garde designs with unconventional materials, Maison Margiela has traditionally held live shows in unusual settings, for example empty metro stations and street corners. Models' faces are often obscured by fabric or long hair to direct attention to the clothes and design. Margiela resigned as creative designer in 2009 and John Galliano was appointed to the role in 2014.
Carol Lim is an American fashion designer, retailer and creative director, who works in partnership with Humberto Leon.
The Row is an American luxury fashion label established by Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen in 2006. The Row produces ready-to-wear clothing, footwear, handbags and accessories. The label is based in New York City and is available in 37 countries.
Humberto Leon is an American fashion designer, retailer and creative director, working in partnership with Carol Lim.
Gabriela Hearst, born November 3, 1976, in Paysandú Department, Uruguay, is a women's luxury ready-to-wear and accessories designer. In addition to designing her namesake collection, she runs and operates her family's ranch in Uruguay.
Chanel is a privately held French company founded in 1909 by Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel, a former milliner. The Chanel ready-to-wear collection is showcased biannually for spring-summer and autumn-winter seasons during Paris Fashion Week to an audience of media, retailers, buyers, investors, and customers, under the auspices of the Chambre Syndicale du Prêt-à-Porter des Couturiers et des Créateurs de Mode, which is one of three trade associations affiliated with the Fédération française de la couture, du prêt-à-porter des couturiers et des créateurs de mode. The House of Chanel is known for liberating women from the corset in the early 20th century and designing fluid, jersey pieces, most notably the little black dress. The little black dress was created to showcase the elegance and body silhouette. It was created in 1926 and debuted by Coco Chanel. Due to the shortages on fabric and materials because of the Great Depression the little black dress became a staple in every women’s closet because of how easy it was to save money and not break the bank to look great! Chanel died in 1971, Karl Lagerfeld served as Creative Director from 1983 until his death in 2019. Virginie Viard, Karl Lagerfeld's longtime collaborator for more than three decades, succeeded him as Creative Director. Viard has a background in costume design and presented her first solo collection in May 2019 for Chanel's Cruise 2020 Collection.
The Valentino Ready-to-Wear collection is a showcased biannual collection for spring-summer and autumn-winter seasons during Paris Fashion Week to an audience of media, retailers, buyers, investors, and customers, under the auspices of the Chambre Syndicale du Prêt-à-Porter des Couturiers et des Créateurs de Mode, which is one of three trade associations affiliated with the Fédération française de la couture, du prêt-à-porter des couturiers et des créateurs de mode.
Magdalena Jasek is a Polish fashion model.
Simon Holloway is an English fashion designer and Artistic Director. As of April 2023, he is the current Creative Director at Alfred Dunhill, Ltd., owned by luxury goods holding company Compagnie Financière Richemont SA.
DRESSX is an American digital fashion company founded in Los Angeles, California. It is considered to be the largest retailer of digital fashion. The platform allows users to dress in digital garments in photos and videos.
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