The partnership comes in the midst of boom times for both brands. Stüssy, which all but invented modern streetwear in the 1980s, has recently gained a whole new generation of acolytes for its vibey, uber-wearable menswear. (More than half a year after opening its revamped New York flagship store, the lines remain dense with baby hypebeasts.) Wales Bonner, meanwhile, has ridden its founder’s graceful, sophisticated vision—“bringing an Afro-Atlantic spirit in European luxury,” as she once told GQ’s Samuel Hine—to world-conquering heights, especially with the label’s blockbuster Adidas collaboration continuing to turn out sneakerhead catnip season after season.
Courtesy of Stüssy
Courtesy of Stüssy
This is hardly Stüssy’s first time rubbing shoulders with a high-fashion luminary—the West Coast juggernaut has previously partnered with the likes of Dries Van Noten and Martine Rose—but there’s something especially on-the-money about this particular linkup. Together, Stüssy and WB have delivered a collection that feels like the wardrobe from a beachy, early-aughts, liberal college drama we desperately need to see.
The accompanying campaign, shot by photographer Zoë Ghertner, features several sun-bleached, sand-covered models in a class photo formation, wearing sharp blazers and crisp poplin button-downs that feel right on cue for the current prep revival. Elsewhere in the capsule, Wales Bonner riffs on Stüssy’s surf roots with hoodies fashioned from wetsuit-like neoprene, deploys leopard print to bring some punkish flair to a collegiate crewneck, and spices up a couple of classic Stüssy bottoms—baggy sweat shorts and roomy jeans—with gleaming metal studs.
All in all, it feels like another accessible, taste-elevating W for Stüssy—a chance to further expand its young audience’s sartorial boundaries and put one of the planet’s illest designers on their radar. The whole collection drops this Friday, September 26, via Stüssy and Wales Bonner’s respective webstores.