H&M has been doing designer hookups since 2004, but none have been as multilayered as the latest, a collaboration within a collaboration that involves both the Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat and Who Decides War. This is a project that grew and morphed like jazz, which happens to be the subject of of the paintings used in the collection. Thinking about a men’s line, the Swedish company initiated conversations with reps from the Basquiat estate, who had recently worked with Who Decides War’s Ev Bravado and Téla D’Amore on an exhibition called “King Pleasure,” and suggested the 2023 CFDA/ Fashion Fund finalists be added to the project as well.
“Everything was very organic, the way it worked, which I love,” said Ana Hernandez, H&M’s Menswear Designer. “Immediately it was, ‘Yes,’ because to work with Basquiat’s archive has always been a dream of ours, especially coming from similar backgrounds,” says Bravado of getting the ask in December 2022. Rather than focus on Basquiat’s well-known crowns and dinosaurs, the designers opted to focus on the late artist’s lesser known work.
“Our biggest thing has always been to just get in the door, execute, and keep our heads down and keep moving,” noted D’Amore. “When we received that call, it was one of those truly surreal moments where we were like, maybe this might mean something bigger at some point. It really was a true personification of that entire thought.
” Though the designers’ experience mi.