Christian Cowan's 'Teletubbies' Collaboration Is an Ode to the '90s
“We treated Dipsy, Laa-Laa, Po and Tinkey-Winkey like the legends they are.”
British-born Central Saint Martins alumni Christian Cowan knows how to make a viral impact, and the designer’s new collaboration with Teletubbies is the latest to get social media talking.
Prior to this, Cowan dressed Sam Smith for their “I’m Not Here To Make Friends” music video, adorning the singer in a cape sporting 300,000 hand-embroidered ethically sourced emerald sheen black pheasant feathers. Likewise, Cowan’s shows are often fronted with celebrities dressed in the designer’s signature pieces, which typically comprise feathers, silk satin, crystal embroidery, and chandelier-like beading.
Now, following on from Cowan’s collaboration with Doritos, comes the Teletubbies capsule. It centers around a pair of high-heeled boots styled on Dipsy, the loveable green children’s character from the cartoon series. For the boot, Cowan uses green fleece to line a chrome patent green leather interior before adding uncanny Dipsy face, ears, and hands to the upper part of the boot.
As for clothing, T-shirts, denim jackets, hoodies and jeans are all on offer, serving up ’90s and Y2K undertones thanks to their nods to “homage tees.” With this in mind, Tinkey-Winkey is seen hugging a model in a photo tee skewed to the right, while Laa-Laa dances with another on a hoodie. Po and a male model pose together on the rear of a denim trucker jacket, and Dipsy can be seen once more on the jeans.
Speaking on the capsule, the designer said: “When deciding what our next collaboration would be, we were throwing around lots of pop culture icons, and then it struck us, let’s do the icons. We treated Dipsy, Laa-Laa, Po and Tinkey-Winkey like the legends they are, shot in an Avedon-esque style, these garments tell the story of our four legendary characters, who have come to step on everyone’s necks and have autographed these pieces for their adoring fans.”
Take a look at the Christian Cowan x Telletubies collaboration in the gallery above, and purchase the collection online now. Prices range from £164 GBP to £2,102 GBP (approx. $197 — $2,536 USD).
In other news, Juliana Nalú is the face of Places+Faces’ new T-shirt drop.
