Designer, Artist, Hacker, Vandal: Off-White™ Launches OffKat, an Immersive New Collaboration with KATSU
Beijing + New York City. July 9, 2021. Off-White™ and its founder and creative director Virgil Abloh are proud to announce the launch of a brand new, comprehensive collaboration with the New York City-based graffiti artist KATSU. The link-up includes a complete womenswear and menswear collection, a multi-part digital interface and video game, a live event that occurred today in Beijing and a complementary New York City exhibition and in-store activation.
KATSU rose to prominence in New York City’s graffiti scene during early 2000’s. These days, he is known for tampering with the intersection of art, graffiti, dark tech, hacking and vandalism. His “experiments” range from drone painting (including tagging a billboard in NYC featuring Kendall Jenner) to sculpture. Abloh deep dove on KATSU’s Instagram page at the starting block of this venture: The final result reinterprets KATSU’s aesthetic signatures across clothing and accessories, as manifested through electronic voyeurism.
“I’ve been a KATSU fan for a long time,” says Abloh. “And, more recently, I’ve seen just how ahead of the curve he is when it comes to fusing a kind of subversive tradition with a radical future. He crosses lines, and dissolves them. That thinking is a perfect adjunct to my ethos at Off-White.”
Consisting of both women’s and men’s ready-to-wear and accessories, the OffKat collaboration features a high-low mix ranging from suiting to crew neck t-shirts. KATSU’s instantly recognizable “skull moniker” plays prominently across the clothes, as do recontextualized drone paintings that have been printed in all-over, high-impact graphic schemes. Both womenswear and menswear have a crossover element, too; printed-and-flared chinos, painted shorts, graffiti-overlaid Jitney bags, box-shoulder blazers and more retain a gender-neutral appeal. Odsy sneakers are also updated for this partnership, as are nail heels, derbies and customized moccasins.
In addition to the product, Abloh and KATSU have developed a new video game named OffKat to be launched alongside the collection. With two user modes dubbed “Explore The City” and “Competitive Graffiti,” the virtual interface will be recordable (for sharing purposes), depict digital billboards, and host live competition in which
players can view others’ scores. This program is usable on iOS and Google Play platforms.
To officially kick-off the collaboration, OffKat held an event in Beijing, China on July 9, 2021. For this activation, nearly a hundred mannequins were arranged in a space to create a “crowd” effect, with models wearing the collection wandering throughout the arrangement. A near-simultaneous New York City exhibition of the collaboration will occur on July 10 and July 11, 2021 from 11am to 7pm at 32, Mercer st. The Mercer Street activation will host a projection of Beijing’s show, as well as additional mannequin sculptures. In another room, video game displays will be seen on walls. New York City will also see an in-store Katsu tagging event on July 11th at the Off-White™ Empty Gallery Store, as well as giveaways, and more. The OffKat collection became available for purchase immediately following today’s event at the Off-White Beijing store.
In addition to the launch in Beijing, OffKat will further be sold in limited capacities at select Off-White™ monobrand stores and select Off-White™ retailers worldwide.
Beijing + New York City. July 9, 2021. Off-White™ and its founder and creative director Virgil Abloh are proud to announce the launch of a brand new, comprehensive collaboration with the New York City-based graffiti artist KATSU. The link-up includes a complete womenswear and menswear collection, a multi-part digital interface and video game, a live event that occurred today in Beijing and a complementary New York City exhibition and in-store activation.
KATSU rose to prominence in New York City’s graffiti scene during early 2000’s. These days, he is known for tampering with the intersection of art, graffiti, dark tech, hacking and vandalism. His “experiments” range from drone painting (including tagging a billboard in NYC featuring Kendall Jenner) to sculpture. Abloh deep dove on KATSU’s Instagram page at the starting block of this venture: The final result reinterprets KATSU’s aesthetic signatures across clothing and accessories, as manifested through electronic voyeurism.
“I’ve been a KATSU fan for a long time,” says Abloh. “And, more recently, I’ve seen just how ahead of the curve he is when it comes to fusing a kind of subversive tradition with a radical future. He crosses lines, and dissolves them. That thinking is a perfect adjunct to my ethos at Off-White.”
Consisting of both women’s and men’s ready-to-wear and accessories, the OffKat collaboration features a high-low mix ranging from suiting to crew neck t-shirts. KATSU’s instantly recognizable “skull moniker” plays prominently across the clothes, as do recontextualized drone paintings that have been printed in all-over, high-impact graphic schemes. Both womenswear and menswear have a crossover element, too; printed-and-flared chinos, painted shorts, graffiti-overlaid Jitney bags, box-shoulder blazers and more retain a gender-neutral appeal. Odsy sneakers are also updated for this partnership, as are nail heels, derbies and customized moccasins.
In addition to the product, Abloh and KATSU have developed a new video game named OffKat to be launched alongside the collection. With two user modes dubbed “Explore The City” and “Competitive Graffiti,” the virtual interface will be recordable (for sharing purposes), depict digital billboards, and host live competition in which
players can view others’ scores. This program is usable on iOS and Google Play platforms.
To officially kick-off the collaboration, OffKat held an event in Beijing, China on July 9, 2021. For this activation, nearly a hundred mannequins were arranged in a space to create a “crowd” effect, with models wearing the collection wandering throughout the arrangement. A near-simultaneous New York City exhibition of the collaboration will occur on July 10 and July 11, 2021 from 11am to 7pm at 32, Mercer st. The Mercer Street activation will host a projection of Beijing’s show, as well as additional mannequin sculptures. In another room, video game displays will be seen on walls. New York City will also see an in-store Katsu tagging event on July 11th at the Off-White™ Empty Gallery Store, as well as giveaways, and more. The OffKat collection became available for purchase immediately following today’s event at the Off-White Beijing store.
In addition to the launch in Beijing, OffKat will further be sold in limited capacities at select Off-White™ monobrand stores and select Off-White™ retailers worldwide.
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