Kitty Joseph and Absolut Find a New Flow
Today marks the launch of Absolut Originality, a bespoke collaboration between the Swedish vodka brand and up-and-coming UK designer, Kitty Joseph. A limited-edition Absolut bottle with a single, cobalt-blue drop, infused into the glass during production, is the primary inspiration to the designer’s three-look capsule collection.
Since Kitty Joseph is relatively unknown to most fashion insiders, we read Absolut’s choice as a mark of confidence. Previous collaborators read like an esteemed editor’s Fashion Month itinerary—Versace, Stella McCartney, and Tom Ford, to name a few. The made-to-order collection, which also features Perspex accessories, uses a special technique involving hand-painted dyes placed upon soaking wet paper and then printed onto fabric. Each graphic look follows the process of how the liquid drops, flows, then settles, much in keeping with how each bottle was crafted.
Reminiscent of Japanese porcelain and Yves Klein’s signature tone, Joseph’s pieces also draw from her interest in calligraphy. “The idea that you can record a fleeting movement in a graphic mark… [is one] I revisited from developing the technique at the Royal College of Art, which involved painting pigments in sweeping brushstrokes to scale to the body,” the designer explains.
Accompanying the collection is a short film featuring New York rapper Njena Reddd Foxxx, of “I’ma Read” fame, dancing to her aptly titled track, “Water Colours.” “I wanted to work with Njena since she is a polymath and has the ability to apply herself to so many different areas of creativity,” Joseph explains. “She captures so perfectly the feeling of flowing pigments… she borders on acrobatics when she moves.”
ABSOLUT ORIGINALITY IS AVAILABLE TODAY.
