Meet the Legendary French Designer Collaging Together Joy, Punk & Palace
Palace Skateboards reconnects with legendary French designer and artist Jean Charles de Castelbajac for their third collaboration, a rare trilogy upping the levels of joy, chaos, and color found in their previous two outings.
And the result is a collection that redefines what punk can feel like in 2025.
“Collage was the best medium to convey messages of peace, love, and energy,” Jean Charles de Castelbajac tells Highsnobiety in a short email exchange. “I’ve always approached streetwear as a reflection of my street art.”
Releasing on June 27, the Jean Charles de Castelbajac x Palace link-up delivers a joyful burst of collage-coded clothing. Palace staples become art canvases with favorites like the varsity jackets going full-surreal with distorted, fluid, and playfully childlike imagery.
Meanwhile, knitwear and tees are layered with checkerboards, felt appliqués, abstract shapes, and remixed Tri-Ferg logos that look like they were pulled straight from a skateboarder’s sticker-covered laptop. It’s unpolished in the best way, sort of like a bedroom wall of clippings or a Tumblr moodboard brought to life.
“I could have just as well called this collection ‘Don’t Be Afraid,’” Charles de Castelbajac explains to Highsnobiety.
“I brought together an archipelago of elements from transgressive movements like Dada and punk, blending them with the simplicity of a child making a collage. I wanted to create a modern wardrobe, a message to future generations: to dare, to assert themselves, and to express their style and personality through all mediums.”
Over the years, Palace has built a legacy of genre-bending collaborations, teaming up with everyone from Reebok to Stella Artois, without ever losing its absurdist charm. But its ongoing partnership with Jean Charles de Castelbajac is easily its most artful: a surreal, shape-shifting trilogy where fashion, politics, and play collide.
The collage medium feels especially fitting. Castelbajac, who’s dressed everyone from Madonna to Pope John Paul II, helped define ’80s couture’s obsession with color, surrealism, and emotional expression. His philosophy erases the borders between art, fashion, and movement.
“Each piece in this collection carries a unique dimension, through both its message and its construction,” he says.
In JCC’s hands, Palace’s visual language gets lovingly torn apart and reassembled. The Tri-Ferg becomes esoteric iconography. Workwear turns into moodboards. “The Palace logo is like a medieval crest,” he says. “It invites you to follow a movement, a battle… it’s a totem I’ve always enjoyed reinventing.”
The real power, though? Joy. JCC cites Dadaism as a key influence, a movement that used nonsense, collage, and absurdity to critique societal order. Punk, too, was born from chaos. But punk in 2025 isn’t all rage and rebellion. The most punk thing about this collection is its joy.
“Palace is part of my family. I see them as spiritual sons,” says Charles de Castelbajac. “They’ve never compromised their values. What they express through their products, their visuals, and their community is a manifesto of solidarity, coolness, and boldness.”
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