Behind the HYPE: How fragment design Revolutionized Modern-Day Collaborations
Hiroshi Fujiwara has built a successful streetwear brand, despite never releasing its own products.
Despite never having created its own products, fragment design‘s simplistic lightning bolt iconography is everywhere. Hiroshi Fujiwara, the mastermind behind fragment design, built up an impressive list of collaborations across industries, owing to the brand’s massive success.
Fujiwara recently teamed up with Travis Scott to launch a surprise merch collection late last month, alongside a highly-anticipated Travis Scott x fragment design x Air Jordan 1 Low, set to release this weekend. The Japanese designer has also lent his signature touch to other noteworthy collaborations with brands like Pokemon, Maserati, Moncler, Levi’s, Beats by Dre, and Louis Vuitton, to name a few.
Often dubbed “the godfather of streetwear,” Fujiwara has been cited as a cultural influence by artists and designers like Takashi Murakami and Virgil Abloh.
Over the course of his more than 40-year career, Fujiwara has drawn influence from global culture, stemming from his travels in the 1980s where he bore witness to the energetic punk scene in London and the rise of hip-hop in New York. He was heavily involved in Japan’s Western music scene, becoming one of the country’s first freelance DJ’s. He also hosted a column on fashion and culture trends called Last Orgy, steadily becoming a mainstay in Japan’s import of Western style.
In 1990, Fujiwara launched his own apparel label, GOODENOUGH, later teaming with Porter Yoshida on a collection of bags that helped popularize the idea of brand collaborations. In the late 1990s, he left GOODENOUGH to launch fragment design, putting the idea of collaboration at the forefront of his business. He pulled the lightning bolt logo idea from a previous project titled Electric Cottage and found the word fragment by looking in the dictionary.
Fragment first began collaborating with Nike in 2010, establishing a longstanding partnership with the footwear giant that continues today. In 2020, fragment also collaborated with HYPEBEAST for a collection of everyday essentials.
Watch the full Behind The Hype video above.
In other news, check out the latest fragment design x Nike Dunk High collaboration, expected out later this year.
