Veja Pairs Up With Marni; Tommy Hilfiger Enters The Metaverse; Nicki Minaj Fronts Marc Jacobs Campaign; Stanley Korshak Opens Cesare Attolini Shop

ARTSY SNEAKERS: Veja, the French accessories brand specialized in the production of sustainable and ethically sourced sneakers, has partnered with Italian luxury fashion house Marni.

The two brands are launching a capsule collection today, which includes the design of two shoes: Veja’s recognizable V-10 style and the newly introduced V-15 today.

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The sneakers are colorful, fun and quirky, reflecting Marni

‘s unique take on fashion and Veja’s commitment to celebrating individuality and fostering creativity. The scribbled motifs have a DIY-inspired look; the V-10 model is available in pink and orange tones with black, handwritten-style Marni lettering on the back. The V-15 model is colored in shades of blue and black.

The Veja x Marni collaboration will be released for pre-order on March 3 on Veja’s and Marni’s official websites and from March 11 customers will be able to buy the new sneakers in select stores, as well as Veja and Marni flagships.

This is not the first time that Veja has collaborated with a high-end fashion house. In 2019 it partnered with Lemaire and Rick Owens, and the following year Veja launched a series of capsules with Owens.

Known for its sustainable and ethical approach to fashion, the Veja x Marni sneakers are made of leather, sourced in Uruguayan farms and tanned at a gold-certified factory in Brazil by the Leather Working Group, with tested and REACH-compliant leathers. This process helps to reduce water waste during the tanning process. Moreover, the shoelaces are made from 100 percent recycled polyester while the soles are composed of 31 percent Amazonian rubber, 22 percent rice waste and 12 percent recycled rubber. — ALICE MONORCHIO

TOMMY GETS META: Tommy Hilfiger, which is owned by PVH Corp., has introduced Team Tommy, a new community-led initiative designed to recognize the gaming world.

“We’ve never done anything like this before,” said Hilfiger. “Not only is this an exciting step for us as we enter the metaverse, but we’re connecting with and building relationships with a whole new group of fans and customers. I’m excited to learn from these creative individuals and explore more of their intricate gaming world.”

Team Tommy is made up of eight hand-picked gamers from across the U.S., Europe and APAC that represent the diverse gaming community. Via the selected gamers platforms, they reach over 5.26 million fans globally and over 1.25 million users on Twitch, an interactive livestreaming gaming and entertainment platform.

As part of Team Tommy, the gamers will take part in weekly streams across various social platforms using Twitch and YouTube Live; monthly regionally streamed “Get Togethers;” in person-appearances throughout the year, and in-store activations in their local markets.

The eight Team Tommy members are Luminum (Australia), Sunsup (France), HoneyPuu (Germany), Nana (Korea), OwengeJuice TV (U.K.), Blaustoise (U.S.), Dish (U.S,), and Dom2k (U.S.).

OwengeJuiceTV, for example, is an avid Minecraft steamer and content creator, focusing his channel on combining pre-recorded cinematic with live role-playing in a Minecraft setting. HoneyPuu, is a Twitch streamer mainly known for her League of Legends gameplay, while Sunsup is a French streamer who mainly steams Animal Crossing content on Twitch. — LISA LOCKWOOD

HEAVEN SENT: Marc Jacobs has tapped Nicki Minaj to lead its latest spring Heaven campaign.

Shot by Harley Weir, the campaign, which was released Thursday, synthesizes arts, television, film and fashion of the past and present, navigating viewers through the punk playgrounds of adolescence, teenage rebellion and through the psychedelic daydreams of youth.

The campaign also stars Sky Ferreira, Yung Lean, Steve Lacy, Paloma Elsesser and Mena Suvari.

Images from the shoot exude an essence of teen angst and youth culture, with the models wearing items popular in the ‘90s into the early Aughts. Minaj wears wigs, fishnet tights, a graphic T-shirt and a colorful jumpsuit, among other things as she poses for the images.

One particular photo was a reiteration of the critically acclaimed 1999 movie “American Beauty,” with Suvari, who played Angela Hayes, posing in a bed of roses as she did for the official movie poster.

The first drop in March will feature contributions from photographer Ed Templeton and painter Claire Barrow.

The second drop in April will include pieces featuring stills from Comedy Central’s short-lived television series “Hi Octane,” which was directed by Sofia Coppola. The show focused on interviews and sketches hosted by some of the most famous celebrities of the ‘90s at the time.

The third drop in May will feature psychedelic graphics created by Elliot Shields. It will also have trippy floral cartoon prints from Alake Shilling and graphics from the ‘50s clay animation series “Gumby.” — CONCHITA WIDJOJO

SHOP IN SHOP: Cesare Attolini, the luxury Neapolitan men’s clothing and sportswear manufacturer with a history that dates back nearly a century, has opened an in-store shop at the Stanley Korshak specialty store in Dallas.

The shop officially debuted with a cocktail reception on Thursday night hosted by Massimiliano Attolini, president and chief executive officer of the brand, and Crawford Brock, owner of the store. To further celebrate the opening, Cesare Attolini will also host a trunk show Friday and Saturday, according to Enrico Libani, CEO of Cesare Attolini USA.

The retailer has carried the brand since 2019 and it “really captures everything we represent at Stanley Korshak: timeless luxury and the highest standard of quality,” a Korshak spokesperson said. The shop is a little over 300 square feet and joins other in-store men’s shops including Kiton, Brioni, Cucinelli, Isaia, Santoni and others.

Libani said that although it took Cesare Attolini 20 years to gain traction in North America, the brand has now established a foothold. In addition to the shop at Korshak, it has had an in-shop boutique at Bergdorf Goodman’s men’s store in New York for the past six years as well as a 2,400-square-foot boutique it opened at 798 Madison Avenue in 2012. It also has a store at the Bal Harbour Shops in Florida.

“Cesare Attolini and Stanley Korshak have established a successful relationship over many seasons, and the opening of the in-store boutique will consolidate and further grow the business by offering a wider selection of products and exceptional customer service,” Libani said.

He said that the Bal Harbour store outperformed the others in the States during the pandemic when the New York store had to be closed and continues to do well, Libani noted. But New York is now picking up and he’s hoping to reach pre-COVID-19 levels in 2022.

Beyond that, Libani said the brand also hopes to expand its fooprint to the West Coast in the near future and open a store in that part of the U.S. “We took the Eastern seaport first,” he said, but that would be our next step.” — JEAN E. PALMIERI

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