Skulls & Slides: Mastermind & Suicoke Are Back at It
When Suicoke and Mastermind get together, the results are usually all-black and riddled with the latter label's signature skulls, crossbones, and the like.
There's been a couple branded KAW sandals and some especially cool espadrilles in the past but Spring/Summer 2022 brings the collaborators together for a collection that goes back to their shared roots.
Co-branded skull slides? You know it. But these aren't just your average Suicoke slides: they're a custom silhouette called the TAMOTT, which swaps adjustable straps for a plush velcro upper.
Suicoke also takes things a step beyond, tapping occasional collaborator Roopa Knitting Mills to create an accompanying selection of co-branded sweatstuff, including hoodies, T-shirts, pants, and shorts made entirely in Roopa's Canadian facilities.
The end product is quiet luxury, which both is and isn't Mastermind's typical oeuvre. See, Mastermind most frequently delivers expensive stuff that's expensive only because it boasts Mastermind branding, a trick that has kept Mastermind in business since it was founded in the late '90s.
Certainly, they were one of the first to do properly luxe "streetwear," beating today's luxury labels to the punch. But Mastermind is nowhere near as internationally recognizable as the Off-White™s and Gallery Departments of the world, though it maintains an ardent support base in Asia.
Dropping July 26 on Suicoke's website, Mastermind's latest collaboration with the Japanese shoemaker isn't so much as an attempt to capitalize on the latter's popularity as it is just another premium team-up.
The secret to Mastermind's ongoing success is in its constant collaborations, much like Suicoke. Over the past few months, Mastermind has dished bespoke Crocs and avant-garde loungewear with Joe Chia while Suicoke has done the deed with Missoni, Carhartt WIP, Lanvin, and NEIGHBORHOOD, another longstanding Japanese label that's done its own Mastermind partnership.
When streetwear brands stick it out long enough, everything comes full circle.
