Whether speaking of design or fashion industry, architecture or individuals, a fil rouge of solid functionality is the name of the game for Jasper Morrison and Jaime Hayon: together they signed Jijibaba, a fresh new menswear brand which is due to launch on Sept. 15th, 2017 at the Dover Street Market (don’t you worry, the whole of it will be up for sale on the internet, too), whilst landing to New York, Ginza and Singapore this upcoming October. Also, a special exhibition will be held at the Somerset House within the group expo Design Frontiers, featuring an exclusive modular set up by Morrison and Hayon and a bunch of their own iconic creations for Vitra and Fritz Hansen.
The first collection is made up of 38 menswear pieces – work jackets, trousers, and cotton shirts 100% made in Italy, France and Portugal – and develops into two distinctive lines aimed at reflecting each designer’s creative sensitivity and aesthetic identity: Morrison goes functional, classic and essential, whilst Hayon boasts a softer spot for playful patterns.
“The whole collection was created on the principles of good design, good solutions, and good materials. What we are aiming for is to establish an evolving collection created by a community of designers who come from a product background. We thought this would be an interesting new offer to the market. We are not just a fashion label, we are a creative brand”, as explained by Hayon, whose shirts included in Jijibaba’s first line were inspired by patterns he had used on ceramics, porcelain and tapestries.
As for Morrison, he did turn to his “Super-normal" design style – first theorised with Naoto Fukawasa in order to produce plain objects smoothly permeating daily life – to create simple garments that he himself would like to wear.
"In my case, I approached it by designing things I want to wear – a certain degree of inconspicuous, practical clothing that nevertheless has an individual look," said Morrison. I'm not much of a follower of fashion and the clothes I have designed don't have any particular theme other than my own typical theme of things being made well, feeling natural in use and having a certain discrete character that expresses itself rather quietly."
Stay tuned, as such evolving collection is expected to enrol new designers at every change of seasons.
