Rhude Races In, Chanel’s Camellias, Kendrick and Converse – WWD

RACING IN: With racing due to arrive at the newly christened 5.41-kilometer Miami International Autodrome, the Miami Grand Prix will see Formula 1 race in the state of Florida for the first time since 1959, as the drivers prepare to battle around the new track set within the city’s Hard Rock Stadium campus on Sunday.

To commemorate the event, The Webster has launched an exclusive capsule collection with Los Angeles-based brand Rhude, inspired by the impending race.

“The love for cars and racing is very much ingrained in the city, and with the increasing popularity of F1 in the United States over the years it feels like the perfect addition. We are so honored to be able to commemorate this moment for Miami with a great longstanding partner like Rhude, who we have always had such synergy with since the very beginning,” said Laure Hériard Dubreuil, founder and chief executive officer of The Webster.

Titled “The Always First,” the capsule is an ode to the glory era of racing and Rhude’s founder and creative director Rhugi Villaseñor reimagined his favorite childhood pastimes of racing cartoons and Tamiya motor car toys. The offering consists of 11 pieces, with items ranging from hoodies, a Primaloft racing vest, varsity jackets, printed terry shorts, checkered button-up shirts, swim trunks and bucket hats — with racing check detail and bright pops of color combined with the essence of Miami.

“With our previous project with McLaren Formula 1, we realized how important that project was for today’s time and how we caught a moment where education and interest for Formula 1 was stimulated with the youth,” said Villaseñor.

The Rhude x The Webster Always First Capsule is available starting Tuesday at The Webster’s South Beach location, aligning with the start of the first Miami Grand Prix. The capsule, which ranges from $192 to $3,000, will be exclusively available in all The Webster stores and online at thewebster.us.

The duo previously collaborated on a limited-edition version of Rhude’s signature V1 sneaker, bolstered by a special one-off colorway in The Webster’s signature color of pink. — LUIS CAMPUZANO

 

THE POWER OF FLOWERS: Camellias from Chanel’s open-air laboratory in Gaujacq, situated in southwestern France, will sprout up in Paris’ Tuileries Gardens between June 9 and 12 as part of the park’s Jardin, Jardin event.

Showcased there will be the Camellia japonica, dubbed The Czar, which is the key ingredient used in Chanel’s No.1 first clean beauty line, which includes skin care, makeup and fragrance.

Inside and outside one greenhouse in the Tuileries, visitors will be able to learn about camellias’ properties — one of which is having the ability to flourish in the heart of winter — and their history, as well as Chanel’s commitments to sustainable cultivation methods.

A second greenhouse is to showcase camellias themselves. Information will be given about the flower’s functions and cosmetics benefits.

Out beginning in early January, the No.1 products are formulated with up to 97 percent of ingredients stemming from natural origin. The star ingredient is house founder Gabrielle Chanel’s iconic flower, with No.1 product formulas including up to 76 percent camellia derivatives, such as petals, seeds and yeasts. Those were chosen for their ability to enhance skin and preserve its youthful appearance, according to the company.

In Chanel’s camellia fields, agro-ecological cultivation methods are used. At the research laboratory in Gaujacq, parts of the fully blossomed camellias, especially of The Czar, are handpicked and made into an oil rich in protocatechuic acid and antioxidants.

In 2018, Chanel’s contribution to the Jardin, Jardin event were some of the house’s key fragrance flowers from Grasse, France, including jasmine, May rose, iris pallida, tuberose and rose geranium. — JENNIFER WEIL

KENDRICK’S TEAM: Kendrick Lamar season is fast approaching.

The Grammy Award-winning rapper sent the music world into excitement recently with the announcement of his next album, “Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers,” which will be released on May 13. But ahead of the release of his fifth album, PgLang, Lamar’s multidisciplinary service company with his business partner Dave Free, is launching collaboration sneakers with Converse exclusively on Pg-Lang.com and Converse.com.

Dave Free, Lamar’s longtime collaborator, said he and Lamar partnered on the design with Converse, but the entire PgLang team eventually put their touches on the design. Free regards Converse sneakers as a staple element to Los Angeles street culture and a style that stands the test of time.

“We’ve designed shoes together in the past,” Free said about working with Lamar on the sneakers. “The Chuck 70 and Pro Leather still has elements from those shoes. We learned a lot from that process of what not to do and took a stab at a new take.”

The Chuck 70 pair sports an off-white upper, neutral logo patch and PgLang branding, while the Pro Leather has a white and neutral color pattern on the upper and logo and the company’s branding alongside Converse’s Star Chevron and the sneaker’s heel. Free teased the Chuck 70 and Pro Leather sneakers on his Instagram in April.

The duo went for subtle details on these styles, like the hiking-style eyelets that Free said will patina over time and give character to them, cryptic text graphics and asymmetric rubber varnish. Also, the white colorway lends itself to customization. “You can’t reinvent the wheel but you can refine it,” Free said.

He added about the partnership: “We have this thing now where we cold-call companies and tell them what we want to do and Converse was down. We were wearing Chucks all the time so we thought we might as well do a PgLang take on it.”

Lamar and Free founded PgLang in March 2020 to tell stories that connect people through shared experiences. They unveiled the venture with a visual mission statement starring Lamar, music artists Jorja Smith and Baby Keem, and actress Yara Shahidi.

Free in April 2022 revealed on Twitter that PgLang stands for “program language” and added “Pg is the operating system; bring your files, let’s work codevelopers.”

Since its establishment, PgLang has collaborated with Calvin Klein, producing a series of seven short films for the brand written and directed by Free, and signed artists Baby Keem and Tanna Leone, the latter of whom released a new album, “Sleepy Soldier,” on April 28. Leone stars alongside model Seleh Marley in the Savannah Setten-directed content piece supporting the PgLang for Converse launch

As for more collaborations in the future, Free said, “I don’t see why not collab. We always get opportunities to work with really dope brands that understand the vision and we want to keep that going. Any partner or artist we consider alumni.” — OBI ANYANWU

CROCS LATEST: Crocs is releasing its latest celebrity collaboration, this time with Grammy-winning singer SZA.

The footwear brand and musician revealed Monday they are teaming on a two-piece footwear collection that includes reimagined versions of the Crocs Classic Clog and Crocs Classic Slide. The collection is meant to evoke a warm, earthy vibe with both styles designed in a woodgrain pattern.

The collection additionally offers custom Crocs charms, called Jibbitz, that represent totems that keep SZA grounded, such as charms inspired by gemstones, the earth, mushrooms, a leaf and fish. The Crocs Classic Clog is also designed with a rainbow-colored friendship bracelet that includes lettered beads that read “SZA.”

For the collaboration, Crocs and SZA are supporting Mental Health Awareness Month by partnering with social advocates Sage Adams, Yaris Sanchez and Donté Colley to bring attention to mental health access and advocacy. Crocs is also making donations to each of the advocates’ organization of their choosing, like Sad Girls Club and the Boris Lawrence Henson Foundation, as well as the National Alliance on Mental Illness.

As quantities from the collection are limited, customers can sign up on Crocs’ website from Monday to Friday for a chance to purchase pieces from it. Customers will then be notified if they’ve been selected at a later date so they can make their purchase. The SZA x Crocs Classic Clog retails for $70 and the SZA x Crocs Classic Slide retails for $40.

This is just the latest celebrity collaboration to come from Crocs, especially in the music world. The footwear brand has previously teamed with the likes of Justin Bieber, Post Malone, Diplo and Bad Bunny. On the fashion side, Crocs has collaborated with Balenciaga, Christopher Kane, Barneys New York and many others. — LAYLA ILCHI