To celebrate the 10th anniversary of their debut album xx, The xx’s Romy Madley Croft, Oliver Sim and Jamie Smith teamed up with Raf Simons to produce a capsule collection inspired by the record. Featuring imagery from the original album art, the designs include t-shirts, patches, a cap and a set of pins finalized in Paris after Simons’ Spring/Summer 2020 show.
“The album xx represents a very distinct sensibility linked to youth culture at the time,” Simons said. “When [The xx] reached out to do something together to celebrate the 10th anniversary of xx, I didn’t have to think twice. I have been a fan of theirs since the very beginning, and I’m so happy and grateful for the fact we became friends and got to collaborate in so many ways.”
This is the latest in a series of creative collaborations that came from the deep mutual appreciation between the band and designer. The band has previously performed at New York’s legendary Guggenheim Museum at Simons’ invitation, and in 2017 the designer collaborated with Alasdair McLellan to create the video for The xx’s ‘I Dare You’.
“We met Raf for the first time in 2014 when he invited us to play at The Guggenheim in New York for Dior,” The xx’s Romy Madley Croft recalls. “We had a fun time and went out after the show when we had the chance to talk to each other. We felt an immediate connection, I thought that he was a very emotionally intelligent person and I really enjoyed talking to him.”
Click through the gallery below to see the collection, photographed by Willy Vanderperre and styled by Olivier Rizzo for System Magazine.