H&M teams up with the estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat and Who Decides War for a collaboration within a collaboration

Following a slew of sell-out brand collaborations, the Swedish fashion powerhouse takes an artsy turn for its latest team-up

H&M has been doing designer hookups since 2004, but none have been as multilayered as the latest, a collaboration within a collaboration that involves both the Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat and Who Decides War.

This is a project that grew and morphed like jazz, which happens to be the subject of of the paintings used in the collection. Thinking about a men’s line, the Swedish company initiated conversations with reps from the Basquiat estate, who had recently worked with Who Decides War’s Ev Bravado and Téla D’Amore on an exhibition called 'King Pleasure', and suggested the 2023 CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund finalists be added to the project as well. “Everything was very organic, the way it worked, which I love,” said Ana Hernandez, H&M’s Menswear Designer.

“I think people will be a little surprised about how refined the collection is,” said Ev Bravado. Photo: Courtesy of H&M

“It’s street ready, but also versatile; you could wear it to church on Sunday if you needed to”. Photo: Courtesy of H&M

“Immediately it was, ‘Yes,’ because to work with Basquiat’s archive has always been a dream of ours, especially coming from similar backgrounds,” says Bravado of getting the ask in December 2022. Rather than focus on Basquiat’s well-known crowns and dinosaurs, the designers opted to focus on the late artist’s lesser known work. “Our biggest thing has always been to just get in the door, execute, and keep our heads down and keep moving,” noted D’Amore. “When we received that call, it was one of those truly surreal moments where we were like, maybe this might mean something bigger at some point. It really was a true personification of that entire thought.”

Though the designers’ experience might have been surreal, the collection is solid, and there’s nothing abstract about the strong desire it’s sure to arouse at retail. They’ve achieved a really successful balance between the artwork and their own design signatures. Like Basquiat, who returned again and again to add to a painting, Bravado is known for adding treatments to garments. Also like Basquiat, Bravado and D’Amore are working towards a higher purpose: “We really wanted to take it in a way that spoke about the Black artists’ experience,” said Bravado. The designers have done that in a celebratory way by, for example, reframing or “enshrining” the artist’s figures within their own stained glass window motif.

Embroidery, patached, diamante denim jeans and jacket with hand-torn lace details, featuring three artworks by Jean-Michel Basquiat: 'Punch Bag,' 1983; 'Flexible,' 1984, 'Untitled' (extract from notebook) from the Basquiat X Ev Bravado & Téla D’Amore X H&M Collaboration. Photo: Courtesy of H&M

Some of the Basquiat pieces they used “highlight those artists who were extremely influential to him,” Bravado explains, and so the idea is that “our customer and the kids who go crazy about anything that has the stained glass on it will gravitate to this and be intrigued to research who these artists are. It’s really storytelling two or three times over. To speak candidly,” he goes on, “when I see a lot of the other collabs that people have done with the estate, we always see the same things. But it’s like, ‘Okay, here’s a man who’s probably the most renowned artist of all time, let’s tell the story of the people who influenced him. and how we were influenced by him, and how we will continue to influence and continue to push forward Black art and culture.”

The collection also references the physicality and process of painting, with white denim acting as a stand-in for canvas. “There’s this one piece where I wanted it to look like I had ripped off the canvas and wrapped it around the form,” noted D’Amore. “We left all the edges very raw….” Their desire was to get beyond simply placing art on fabric, and they did so by employing their hands-on textural techniques, which were developed at scale with the H&M design team. After all, it wouldn’t be Who Decides War without some “distress and repair.”

Photo: Courtesy of H&M

“It’s all the same fabrics that have been used before, it’s all the same conversation, but it’s about context, it’s about appliqué, technique, it’s really just development,” stresses D’Amore. “I think the way that our multi-layer process happens is the same thing that was going on with the art.”

Who Decides War’s Téla D’Amore and Ev Bravado. Photo: Courtesy of H&M

This project extends beyond the three interested parties; it also involves customers. H&M’s collaborations, of course, aren’t just about price points, they’re about accessibility to good design. “I remember the H&M collabs when I was younger, the Margiela one especially, where I got the trench coat and I wore it religiously for five years. I still have it. It’s great stuff,” says Bravado. “It really means a lot to the consumer when they’re able to access the designers in a way that they’re not usually able to.”

Not only are the scale and reach of H&M of a different order than that of an upstart independent brand, with this project the designers stepped into new roles. “It was our first time stepping into a creative direction project,” D’Amore says, “and we had to figure out how we were going to bring that to life. What was so amazing was the H&M team is such a well-oiled machine that the small thoughts that we were having, these little ideas, it was like they picked up on every last kind of note…. we were never met with a ‘no.’ It felt like everyone was trying to find the yes in the situation every time, and I think that shines through in the product that we were able to create.”

The collection will be in select stores from July 18, 2024.

Basquiat X Ev Bravado & Téla D’Amore X H&M Collaboration

Printed blazer featuring artwork by Jean-Michel Basquiat, 'Discography 1', 1984.

Printed sweater and jeans featuring artwork by Jean-Michel Basquiat, 'Untitled (World Famous)', 1983.

Printed and embroidered bomber featuring artwork by Jean-Michel Basquiat, Ass Killer, 1984. Embroidered and ptached jeans featuring artwork by Jean-Michel Basquiat: 'Untitled (Dry Goods)', 1982; 'Untitled (Ideal)', 1988.

Printed and embroidered shirt featuring artwork by Jean-Michel Basquiat, 'Punch Bag', 1983. Printed Chrome-free leather pants featuring two artworks by Jean-Michel Basquiat: 'Untitled (World Famous)', 1983 and 'Untitled' (extract from notebook).

Hoodie featuring artwork by Jean-Michel Basquiat, 'Hornplayers', 1983.

Washed, embroidered and distressed hoodie featuring artwork by Jean-Michel Basquiat, 'Untitled (Dry Goods)', 1982. Bootcut denim cargo pants featuring artwork by Jean-Michel Basquiat, 'Discography 1', 1983.

Hoodie featuring artwork by Jean-Michel Basquiat, 'Jawbone of an Ass', 1982.

Printed pullover featuring artwork by Jean-Michel Basquiat, 'Punch Bag', 1983.

Printed T-shirt featuring artwork by Jean-Michel Basquiat, 'Hornplayers', 1983.

Bootcut denim cargo pants featuring artwork by Jean-Michel Basquiat, 'Discography 1', 1983.

Printed pullover featuring artwork by Jean-Michel Basquiat, 'Untitled (Ajax)'.

Printed T-shirt featuring artwork by Jean-Michel Basquiat, 'Hornplayers', 1983.

Printed Chrome-free leather pants featuring two artworks by Jean-Michel Basquiat: 'Untitled (World Famous)', 1983 and 'Untitled' (extract from notebook).

Bootcut denim cargo pants featuring artwork by Jean-Michel Basquiat, 'Discography 1', 1983.

Printed T-shirt featuring artwork by Jean-Michel Basquiat, 'Hornplayers', 1983.

Printed and embroidered shirt featuring artwork by Jean-Michel Basquiat, 'Punch Bag', 1983.

Printed and embroidered shirt featuring artwork by Jean-Michel Basquiat, 'Untitled (Ajax)'.

Printed shirt featuring artwork by Jean-Michel Basquiat, 'Ass Killer', 1984. Printed Chrome-free leather pants featuring two artworks by Jean-Michel Basquiat: 'Untitled (World Famous)', 1983 and 'Untitled' (extract from notebook).

Printed and embroidered shirt featuring artwork by Jean-Michel Basquiat, 'Punch Bag', 1983.

Printed sweater featuring artwork by Jean-Michel Basquiat, 'Untitled (World Famous)', 1983.

Coat with tonal print and embroidery featuring artwork by Jean-Michel Basquiat, 'Untitled (Ideal)', 1988.

Embroidery, patached, diamante denim jeans with hand-torn lace details, featuring three artworks by Jean-Michel Basquiat: 'Punch Bag', 1983; 'Flexible', 1984, 'Untitled' (extract from notebook).

Corset featuring artwork by Jean-Michel Basquiat, 'Discography 1', 1983.

Corset and skirt featuring artwork by Jean-Michel Basquiat, 'Discography 1', 1983.

Printed denim skirt and corset featuring artwork by Jean-Michel Basquiat, Per capita, 1981.

Embroidery, patached, diamante denim jeans and jacket with hand-torn lace details, featuring three artworks by Jean-Michel Basquiat: 'Punch Bag', 1983; 'Flexible', 1984, 'Untitled' (extract from notebook).

Printed and stitched mesh top featuring artwork by Jean-Michel Basquiat, 'Jawbone of an Ass', 1982.

Embroidery, patached, diamante denim jeans with hand-torn lace details, featuring three artworks by Jean-Michel Basquiat: 'Punch Bag', 1983; 'Flexible', 1984, 'Untitled' (extract from notebook).

Originally published on Vogue.com.

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