Maison Kitsuné - Pitti Immagine FW 2013 - Florence

11 Jan 2013

Those who do not know the two mastermind behind the label Kitsuné have missed something good! French music producer Gildas Loaëc and Japanese architect Masaya Kuroki created the label Kitsuné – fox in Japanese – in 2002 and are constant style forerunners ever since – especially when it comes to urban and independent taste, both in music and fashion.

Think of the propulsive beats of French Touch music, transform this vibrant energy into contemporary fashion, and you'll pretty much get Maison Kitsuné as a result. This is also what the creative minds of Pitti Immagine must have thought, when they invited the French-Japanese duo to premiere their womenswear as guest designers at the 11th edition of Pitti W. Officially, Loaëc and Masaya were supposed to showcase womenswear only, but as expected, Maison Kitsuné could not be pigeonholed so easily.

As a matter of fact, the designers succeeded by sticking to what they do best: mingling eclectic music and fashion in a performance named “Show Business”. “Inviting musicians who already released on our label to perform in our newest collection just completely made sense. We're about fusing both music and fashion, so we had to express one through the other”, confirms Masaya Kuroki after his show.

The runway was therefor replaced by a concert-like stage set in Florence's Palazzo Capponi, where the hosts Verbal and Yoon – the creative duo behind the jewellery design Ambush – staged a cheeky music show, surrounded by impressive frescoes and paintings. French singer Yelle performed a yet unreleased song called “L'amour parfait”, wearing a casual seersucker dot-print jumpsuit and a khaki parka from the latest Fall-Winter 2013 womenswear collection, while her fellow Swedish singer Say Lou Lou would opt for a girly and iridescent 50s silhouette dress, next to the five handsome Londoners from Citizens!, who pulled off a safe and preppy british-rock look, with tailored grey suits, impeccably cut white shirts and ties.

After celebrating their 10th anniversary last year, Kitsuné seems to have one more reason to party in 2013: “We already have flagships in Paris and New York. Now, we decided to open another boutique in Tokyo’s Aoyama area in february”, smiles Kuroki. Well done, boys.

- Elisabeta Tudor