H&M has had a long line of collaborations including with many luxury brands such as Lanvin, Marni and the unforgettable Alexander Wang. All sold out in minutes. From these collaborations there have been a lot of memorable campaigns, but none with the grandeur of the Kenzo X H&M collaboration, which features Chance the Rapper, Chloë Sevigny and more.
Chance the Rapper
You’ve probably heard of Chance the Rapper if you’re at all a fan of Kanye West, as he was featured on his latest album, ‘The Life of Pablo’ in first track ‘Ultralight Beam.’ Fellow Chicago-born rapper Chance has released several of his own albums too. Chance the Rapper features in H&M x Kenzo’s new campaign and has just hinted at a collaboration album with Kanye West. Needless to say, big things will be coming his way soon enough.
Suboi
Meet Vietnam’s number one rap queen. It’s more than likely that you haven’t heard of her, unless you’re deep into the Vietnam rap scene. Suboi is one of the most popular rappers in the south-east Asian country, and has even branched over into further eastern markets. Born and raised in Saigon, Suboi writes about family, love, and social pressures. She originally learnt to rap by listening to the Greats, Eminem, Mos Def and more. This classic 90’s and fluid rhyming is evident in her latest single Đời.
Iman
Model and owner of Iman Cosmetics, this entrepreneur is no stranger to the fashion world and is therefore one of the experts within this campaign. In her video campaign, she talks about being a refugee and how important it was for her to be an activist. This goes to show the diversity that is evident within Kenzo’s campaign.
Chloë Sevigny
Actress Chloë Sevigny first made her debut in film Boys Don’t Cry as Lana Tisdel and has gone on to have a tremendous career, with a grand portfolio of work behind her. She has also dabbled in fashion design with several collaborations with luxury retailer Opening Ceremony. Sevigny is known for her cool-girl persona and style that feature in everything that she does.
Ryuichi Sakamoto
Probably one of the more left-field choices for this campaign is Ryuichi Sakamoto: a composer and musician, known for many critically-acclaimed soundtracks from Alejandro G Iñárritu’s Oscar-winning film Babel, featuring Brad Pitt to Leonardo Di Caprio’s Oscar-winning film ‘The Revenant’. Sakamoto is an incredible talent, drawing from Japanese cultural points in his music and hinting at different influences from anime to classical music. Sakamoto covers all bases in his music, and can create emotion out of thin air with just a piano to hand. Sakamoto may be one of the lesser-known characters in this campaign, but his talent precedes him.
Xiuhtezcatl Martinez
This 16-year-old environmental and climate change activist is one of the youngest to star in the Kenzo x H&M collaboration. His company Earth Guardians try and enlighten the younger generation about the damages of climate change and what we need to do to prevent it. By performing live music, Xiuhtezcatl Martinez is certainly one of the voices of the future.
Rosario Dawson
Actress and activist Rosario Dawson first made her debut appearance in critically-acclaimed film Seven Pounds, featuring Will Smith. She has recently been in the press as she was arrested for attending a pro-democracy sit-in at US Capitol. Dawson is one of the few actresses that is willing to risk the souring of public opinion for her own ethos and represents a diverse category that fits perfectly in line with the H&M x Kenzo collaboration.
This H&M x Kenzo collaboration is bound to be one of the biggest collaborations to hit the high street, and with unique brand ambassadors fronting the campaign, how couldn’t it be?
