Raf Simons announces Smiley collaboration

Raf Simons’ eponymous label is joining forces with Smiley.

The 54-year-old designer – who is the co-creative director of Prada – has announced a new collaboration with the iconic lifestyle brand to spread some much-needed “optimism”.

Smiley – which has been around for five decades – started life as a symbol for good news in newspaper France Soir in 1972, and is now a TOP 100 global licensing firm.

Details regarding the upcoming collection are slim, though it’s more than likely it will centre on the basic ideogram that represents a smiling face.

Simons announced on Instagram: “I love the optimism that Smiley projects. I love the focus on a brighter and better future.”

In 2017, Smiley’s CEO Nicolas Loufrani launched the Smiley Movement, a non-profit that aims to tackle the big issues in society by matching the people and organisations who can help solve problems with others that need solutions.

The Raf Simons x Smiley collaboration will launch on February 2.

Meanwhile, Prada’s FW22 Men’s Collection just hit the runway, with the likes of Jeff Goldblum, Damson Idris, Kyle MacLachlan, Tom Mercier hitting the catwalk in Milan.

The ‘Body of Work’ range explores “theatre and cinema as mirrors of reality.”

A description of the show expanded: “Work is a state of reality – a vital component of life. Into the idealised, fantasised aesthetic vernacular of the fashion show, a reality interrupts.

“Taking theater and cinema as mirrors of reality, for the Fall/Winter 2022 Prada men’s show by Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons, the Deposito of the Fondazione Prada is reimagined by AMO as a stage for action, a representation of a heightened actuality.

“Actors are interpreters of reality, employed to echo truth through their portrayals.”

Article source: https://www.contactmusic.com/news/raf-simons-announces-smiley-collaboration_6339051