For Spring/Summer 2018, Japanese denim favorite EDWIN has hooked up with French director and illustrator Ugo Bienvenu on a series of future-pop-inspired, graphic novel style T-shirts.
The collaboration consists of five original artworks, all produced exclusively for the release: The Family & The Rainbow, What an Afternoon, Honey!, Weekend Sport, and Being Precise. With the exception of The Family & The Rainbow, all of the artworks are digitally printed onto standard fit crews in white, black, and blue.
In each piece, Bienvenu chose to apply a playful, poppy style to more sophisticated subject matter. Using vivid colors and intriguing characters, the results resemble graphic novel panels. Like graphic novelists, Bienvenu takes a style and medium that stereotypically appeals to children, and uses it to portray thought-provoking concepts.
Ugo Bienvenu studied at the leading design institution École Estienne where he joined the Les Gobelins school of animation before joining California Institute of the Arts and later EnsAD (or, The National School of Decorative Arts) in Paris. During these years, Bienvenu began to favor 2D animation and cultivated an experimental style inspired by 1940s and ‘50s comic books. His focus in recent years has been on short animated films, music videos, graphic novels, and illustration.
The collection launches Thursday, April 19. To celebrate the launch, EDWIN and Ugo Bienvenu will host an exhibition of Ugo's latest work alongside an exclusive first look at the graphic tees on April 18. The “HOLIDAYS FOREVER” exhibition will run from the April 19 to May 5, 2018, at the Galerie Treize-Dix, Paris. Check out the video for the project above soundtracked by Antoine Kogut whose first solo project with Versatile Records drops very soon.
