There are some characters and franchises that maintain enduring popularity and seem to be rarely out of fashion. Pokémon is undoubtedly one of them.
While strolling through Taipei, Taiwan, you'll frequently encounter Pokémon characters featured on adverts in the underground and on the wraps of candies and snacks, or find their figurines in the claw or gashapon machines.
If you're flying with China Airlines, you may come across a cute Pikachu apron featured in their duty-free magazine, modeled by flight attendants (the company also unveiled last year its own Pikachu jet View this photo).
The fashion industry hasn't been immune to Pokémon-mania in previous years. The widespread success of Pokémon Go not only won the hearts of fans, but also drew the attention of fashion houses.
As mentioned in a previous post, in 2021, Gucci collaborated with The North Face to create a collection inspired by Pokémon Go.
Yet, even before that collaboration there were others: in 2016, Prabal Gurung partnered with the Pokémon company and came up with a nine-piece capsule; Jeremy Scott's S/S 19 collection featured intarsia sweaters with Pikachu; GCDS' S/S 19 collection also included cartoonish jumpers and boots inspired by Pokémon; Bobby Abley Men's A/W 19 designs seemed worthy of the best Pokémon trainers out there and included Pokéball ponchos and tracksuits with Squirtle, Charmander and Pikachu among the other characters.
In 2018 Hiroshi Fujiwara's Fragment Design also released designs featuring Pokémon prints; in 2019, 10.Deep referenced instead Pokémon villains Team Rocket in its T-shirts and hoodies while the irresistibly adorable Detective Pikachu from the eponymous film by Rob Letterman turned into an inspiration for Christelle Kocher‘s Koché collection, that was followed by a sportswear collaboration between Adidas Japan and Pokémon.
But the trend is still going: curators and academics may be worried about the future of museums, but the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam successfully drew a large number of visitors by distributing a unique Pokémon card featuring Pikachu in the style of Van Gogh's Self-Portrait With Grey Felt Hat.
The card was given freely to the participants of a treasure hunt at an exhibition showcasing modern art by Pokémon artists - Tomokazu Komiya, sowsow, Naoyo Kimura - inspired by Van Gogh's ties to Japanese culture.
For children, the treasure hunt provided an engaging way to connect with the works of the Dutch master. It involved answering questions about Van Gogh's art, adding an educational aspect to the pursuit of obtaining the Pokémon card.
The exhibition won significant attention and the museum experienced full bookings, resulting in crowds, lengthy queues, and sold-out merchandise from the museum shop.
Yet, as ticket touts sought to exploit the thriving resale market, and fearing for the safety of visitors and staff, both the museum and the Pokémon Company International decided in October to halt the distribution of the free Pikachu X Van Gogh Museum promotional card. Consequently, the cards will now be made available through the Pokémon Centre website and select retailers in the Netherlands, excluding the Van Gogh Museum.
In August this year the Japanese city of Yokohama hosted instead the Pokémon World Championships and the city celebrated the event also through a series of public art installations that attracted locals and tourists as well.
But Pokémon isn't just a magnet for museums and tourists: fashion collaborations are continuing and, quite often, collections featuring Pokémon characters are extremely successful.
A recent Pokémon X A.P.C. capsule features functional sweatshirts, T-shirts, trousers and small accessories, but the best collaborations are usually the ones linked with a specific video game or app.
The Japanese luxury loungewear company Gelato Pique, for example, recently launched a partnership consisting in a limited-edition clothing line including 38 items. Rather than by the frenzy of Pokémon Go, the capsule was inspired by the sleep tracking app Pokémon Sleep.
The app, developed in collaboration with a sleep specialist, transforms sleeping into a form of entertainment and puts emphasis on physical and mental well-being, aiming to help users achieve a restful night's sleep - a philosophy aligned with Gelato Pique's commitment to valuing sleep and healing, that's the main reason why this collaboration worked rather well.
The kawaii-inspired collection caters to a diverse range of shoppers, including non-fans, offering comfortable loungewear in a soothing colour palette and in fluffy materials - featuring Pikachu, Jigglypuff, and Snorlax - suitable for relaxation. Some pieces from the collection, such as the eye masks and headbands, are also ideal for travel purposes.
Most items are already sold out (the collection launched in September), which proves the collaboration was very successful.
Gelato Pique, boasting 80 stores across Japan, and 20 across China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, has actually got a history of successful partnerships with video game titles including Animal Crossing and Super Mario. Yet, in this case the brand's focus extends beyond gaming, emphasizing relaxation, ensuring that fans can enjoy their leisure without losing sleep over gaming.
Gelato Pique is a luxury company, so designs are fairly expensive, yet still affordable, but a few days ago Tiffany & Co. launched a collaboration with American artist Daniel Arsham in partnership with the Pokémon Company that isn't affordable at all.
Arsham, known for his "Future Relics" aesthetic, where he envisions everyday objects as archaeological discoveries from a fictional future, applied this concept to create nine jewelry designs showcasing six beloved Pokémon - Pikachu, Charmander, Squirtle, Jigglypuff, Cubone, and Mew.
The capsule collection includes oxidized sterling silver and gold pendants with diamond accents, each with a specific Pokémon. Two necklace size options are available, one with a small pendant and the other featuring a larger pendant, both crafted in 18-karat yellow gold. The designs are packaged in a Tiffany & Arsham Studio & Pokémon Blue Box, with the gold Pikachu pendants sold in a Tiffany Blue Poké Ball.
The designs echo Arsham’s 2022 "A Ripple in Time" project, that was the result of a partnership with Kunihiko Yuyama, the General Director of the Pokémon series broadcast in 1997. In that case Arsham, crafted the plot revolving around the Pokémon Celebi and its abilities to travel through time, producing paintings and sculptural works.
The limited-edition capsule collection for Tiffany ranging from $1,290 to $29,000, will be available from December at the Tiffany & Co. Landmark in New York, the Omotesando store in Tokyo, and tiffany.com in North America and Japan.
Even considering that there are fervent Pokémon fans ready to spend hefty sums on items linked to the franchise (YouTuber Logan Paul made headlines by spending $5 million on a single card in 2021...), not many of them will invest in the most expensive Tiffany X Pokémon pieces.
After all in the world of Pokémon, the focus is not on material possessions but on the shared thrill and excitement that unite players from all walks of life.
It would therefore be better to invest in the official trading cards made by Tokyo-based Creatures Inc., a matter of pride for many collectors and a serious business if you consider the price of certain rare cards (the existence of a counterfeit market spawned by these cards adds an additional layer of seriousness to the business - earlier on this year, a judicial police investigation in Italy led to the seizure of more than 3 million counterfeit products - mostly consisting collectible Pokémon cards - with an estimated value of around 500,000 euros. Nintendo, the Japanese company holding the Pokémon trademark, confirmed at the time that the operation conducted by the Italian financial police was one of the largest seizures in Europe in the last three years).
Genuine artistry also defines each distinctive card: Yuka Morii, for example, crafts the creations for the cards from clay meticulously sculpting her Pokémon characters, firing them and then photographing them in real-world settings, displaying a commitment to authenticity that perfectly aligns with the enthusiasm of the Pokémon community.
Comments