MILAN — A serial collaborator who has scooped up partnerships with Adidas, Longchamp and Melissa, among others, Jeremy Scott has now lent his pop-tinged, playful creativity to luggage maker Carpisa.
“I apply my creativity to canvases whether it’s luggage, couture, strollers, carts.…I just want to inspire and excite people,” Scott said at a press preview in Milan on Tuesday. “I was excited about the idea of bringing my creativity to luggage and travel.…If you’re someone that has a really strong personality and style, but then your suitcase is boring it’s like [plays epic fail sound],” he noted.
The designer developed a two-drop collection for the brand, part of the Gruppo Pianoforte, which also owns innerwear label Yamamay. The first range lands in Carpisa’s stores on March 4 and online on Wednesday and comprises shopping bags, crossbodies, backpacks and weekend bags, as well as smaller accessories covered in images of classical sculptures ravaged with colorful paint, in a nod to graffiti art.
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The second drop slated for April 5 dons cartoon-like airplane prints over a baby blue background.
“I had to do something,” Scott said with a chuckle when asked if the collection was a four-handed effort. “I was thinking about Italy and having fun with the culture and arts of the country with a playful touch,” he said.
All items across the two drops are crafted from an RPET recycled fabric similar to nylon in sync with the company’s sustainable bent, which Scott credited entirely to the luggage maker’s team. A three-piece travel set of trolleys is also made sustainably using a mix of 70 percent recycled materials.
The collection is completed by an airship-shaped crossbody bag, which nods to a similar style the American designer unveiled on the catwalk in 2003 for his namesake brand and that was produced in a limited run of eight to 10 pieces at the time. “It’s good to see it manufactured with great quality and accessible after many years,” Scott offered.
Tapping Scott as a collaborator was all but fortuitous. The U.S. is a target market for Carpisa, which is actively monitoring the country, seeking a local partner to develop its footprint. “As of now we’re hoping U.S. tourists will come back to the country leaving it with a Carpisa luggage in their hands,” said Gianluigi Cimmino, chief executive officer of Carpisa and Yamamay.
The company’s e-commerce is global, thus opening to international customers, including Americans, but expanding its physical retail presence is high on the executive’s agenda. “Data shows U.S. customers are interested in our products, they do buy in-store while in Italy especially in tourist destinations including Florence,” he said.
Scott appears in campaign imagery for the capsule and Cimmino confessed he couldn’t think of a better front man. “He is a pop and style icon, he represents everything we stand for, he’s also championed democratic fashion,” said the CEO.