MR PORTER AND ARKET DESIGN EXCLUSIVE MEN’S AND CHILDREN’S COLLECTIONS, A FIRST COLLABORATION OF ITS KIND FOR BOTH BRANDS

by John Russel Jones

MR PORTER and Nordic lifestyle brand ARKET collaborate for the first time to launch a limited-edition menswear and childrenswear capsule collection inspired by nature. The collection will launch on 15th March, with 120 pieces at MR PORTER, and select styles online at ARKET and ARKET’s flagship stores in London, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Paris and Amsterdam.

MR PORTER and ARKET worked together across the full collaborative process, from collection development to creative campaign. Across these, inspiration was born out of a shared principle of modernist, bold and colourful design that embraces nature – important principles for both brand’s global customer base.

The collection features a bright assortment of everyday ready-to-wear staple pieces and accessories; coats, anoraks, jumpers, T-shirts, trousers and caps are designed for modern living. It’s a true family affair, with select pieces twinned in design across the collection of 70 for men and 50 for kids.

A proportion of the collections are created in collaboration with London-based Planet Good Earth, a community project that brings together families through gardening, inspiring them to be part of the worldwide environmental movement. This is brought to life through a series of Planet Good Earth patched graphics on select garments, including a green fingered “good earth, good energy” character, a Good Earth smiley world cartoon – and a series of animated garden friends.

Menswear highlights include a rugby shirt, available in both a striped red and orange, and green and yellow, a quilted jacket and matching gilet vest in lilac, and a mustard long-sleeved T-shirt with Planet Good Earth pocket and rear graphic. Extra attention has also been paid to fabrications – a windbreaker is available in blue and green is designed in Limonta fabric, a highly regarded, premium technical fabric made in Italy. Accessories include a multicoloured five panel cap, a lilac and green beanie and two colour-block ribbed rugby socks.

Styles and colourways are mirrored throughout the childrenswear collection, allowing adults and children to style the collection intergenerationally. Bright pops of colour, such as the blue fleece vest with orange piping or the hooded towel robe, again ideated in rugby stripes, offer a playful and vivid wardrobe for the whole family.

This sense of family duality is celebrated in an accompanying creative campaign that candidly captures the notion of togetherness and embracing life outside in the garden – a core focus of Planet Good Earth’s work. These stories, which will profile families involved in city gardening and interviews with farmers and the team at Planet Good Earth, will be championed across MR PORTER and ARKET’s editorial and social channels, and provide immersive window displays across each selected ARKET store.

“We are incredibly excited to partner with MR PORTER for our first ever ready-to-wear design collaboration on this scale and proud to be part of a new chapter in their beautiful curation of lifestyle products. It is an innovative collection, both unisex and ageless in its approach, inspired by the joy of colour and nature. Launching this collaboration with MR PORTER gives us a unique opportunity to reach a global, style-conscious audience looking for modern and sustainable everyday design,” says Karl-Johan Bogefors, Brand and Communications Director, ARKET.

 “As long-time admirers of ARKET we at MR PORTER are very excited to collaborate with them on an exclusive collection across menswear and childrenswear. This partnership was born from the shared values of the importance of spending time with your loved ones, experiencing the beauty of nature and looking good while doing it. The clothes are made to explore and have fun in, and we wanted to convey a sense of freedom to our customers through this collection. We are also delighted to include Planet Good Earth as part of this project, their championing of family and community felt like a natural fit and we look forward to bringing their story to life through the collection and campaign creative,” says Daniel Todd, Buying Director, MR PORTER.

 Retail prices range from $10-$290