Christian Cowan Brings Candy Crush to the Paris Catwalk
Christian Cowan is staging his first runway show in Paris, featuring a second collaboration with Candy Crush. The British-born, New York-based designer has used the beloved app to create a line of oversize and attachable pockets.
As an avid player of the game, Cowan was intrigued when the gaming company initially approached him for their first collaboration, “Sweet Seat.”
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“I’ve never done a collaboration that isn’t authentic to myself as a designer,” Cowan said. “Everything always taps into things that I’ve genuinely used or loved. My designs are meant to be playful, fun and bring joy — Candy Crush exudes this same ethos.”
Cowan brings Candy Crush to the Paris Fashion Week catwalk as the pocket’s designs compliment the work he was already planning for the show.
Notably, fashion’s intersection with gaming has gained rapid momentum, as seen in Valentino’s Animal Crossing collaboration, GCDS spring 2021 collection and Gucci’s “Good Game” capsule collection.
Candy Crush Saga’s vice president of marketing, Luken Aragon, said the company was drawn to Christian Cowan’s out-of-the-box designs and took note of the designer’s collaborations with previous brands including Motorola, Le Specs, Teletubbies and more.
“After our first collaboration with Christian to create the Sweet Seat, we knew he’d be the perfect partner to create another real-life solution for Candy Crush Saga players,” Aragon said. “His creativity shows through his vibrant, playful designs and what better way to incorporate Candy Crush Saga into someone’s everyday life than through fashion?”
Furthermore, the decision to create pockets for this collaboration came about after noticing designers’ lack in creating them. “For decades, pockets have been notoriously ignored by designers and excluded from women’s clothing, but fashion today begs for them,” Cowan said. “I love camp, but I also love function — these pockets bring both and there’s no better way to showcase them than on the runway. They take an otherwise ordinary outfit and make it more fun and functional.”
The collaboration features three pockets with distinctive candy hues and shapes that can be paired with a variety of outfits — attachable like a brooch with pins.
“The pockets, debuting at Christian Cowan’s Paris Fashion Week show, provide a convenient place to store your phone [or other items] on any garment to ensure you can always easily access Candy Crush Saga,” Aragon said.
Cowan said he was most drawn to the striking aspects of Candy Crush: its vibrant and eye-catching color palette. To mirror the game’s recognizable aesthetic, the pockets featured come in a range of candy-inspired hues such as bright pink, electric blue and lush purple.
“I drew inspiration from the game’s bold and playful colors and incorporated them into my collection by using textures that are used throughout (tweed and jean),” Cowan said. “From the style and shape of the pockets to the names, the world of Candy Crush can be seen throughout.”
The Christian Cowan x Candy Crush pocket collaboration is available exclusively on Cowan’s e-commerce website for $99. “Denim Crush” was inspired by the blue candy, “Sugar Tuille” was inspired by the pink and white pathway in the Candy Kingdom and an “Unnamed” pocket was inspired by the purple candy. Fans of the game help name the final pocket by casting their vote on Candy Crush’s social media.
Despite working closely with the Candy Crush team on the project, Cowan said the company gave him the space to create an out-of-the-ordinary product that made sense with his collection. “Knowing Candy Crush is played and loved by so many people, we both wanted to create an accessory that could be accessible to anyone and everyone.”
Aragon echoes this statement, adding, “By collaborating with Christian Cowan on Sweet Seat and now Pockets, we’re bringing Candy Crush Saga out of the app and into real life…on the runway even. We want to blend fashion, pop culture and gaming together, to bring joy to new players that are fans of Christian Cowan, while also creating moments of magic for our existing players as we work to make the world more playful.”
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