Iconic Australian denim label Ksubi is celebrating 11 years in operation this week with the launch of a fresh campaign, a new collection, and plans to expand its retail empire into Victoria.
Despite a close call with administration last year, the label has picked up the pieces and launched a spate of new initiatives to boost the Ksubi stable, including the most recent Ksubi “Kolors” campaign, which will debut in Australia today.
The campaign is a push by Ksubi to resurrect the coloured denim trend of 2004 via the "Kolors" collection, which incorporates two cuts for men and women, in shades of white, blue, orange, yellow, red, green, purple, black and pink. The range is set to drop into all Ksubi outlets immediately and will be promoted via a short film, titled “Kolors”. The clip, which premiered online, is directed by Australian director Daniel Askill and features models Bambi Northwood-Blythe, Cisco Gorrow and Heidi Harrington-Johnson.
Ksubi has matched the international launch of the “Kolors” film and collection with in-store campaigns at Ksubi stores as well as across its retail partners, such as David Jones and General Pants locally and Selfridges, Net-a-porter, Shop Bop and Lane Crawford internationally.
Ksubi global brand director and co-founder Paul Wilson has also confirmed that Ksubi will open its first stand-alone store in Melbourne next month, as well as a Ksubi e-store, which may include exclusive Ksubi pieces only available for purchase online. The outlets will add to Ksubi's existing retail network, which currently includes three stand-alone stores in NSW and stockists including General Pants and David Jones.
“There will be an online store within the next three or four months and that's very much part of our wider retail plan,” Wilson said. “We have also signed the lease for a store at Melbourne Central shopping precinct, which will open on June 9. In terms of the online store, we've been talking a bit about [what to sell online] internally and I'm sure we'll be doing some sort of exclusive offer – from custom pieces to limited edition pieces, to archive pieces – but we haven't made any decisions yet.”
The news comes hot on the heels of Sex! & Fashion, another Ksubi venture which launched in late April. The campaign included an exclusive collaboration with retail giant General Pants, which saw Ksubi design a 22-piece denim collection, now sold only at General Pants stores nationally. The Sex! & Fashion campaign also included the launch of an online pop culture magazine of the same name by Ksubi.
The brand also recently opened Ksubi Kustom, an in-house atelier studio within its Paddington boutique The Ghost Shoppe, which offers distinct Ksubi designs, alterations and customisation techniques to existing garments or by request to customer specifications.
However, rather than a Ksubi comeback, Wilson sees this recent brand activity as part of an evolution of the label, and a strategy to stay on top in an increasingly competitive market.
“We will be 11 years old this Fashion Week and we feel like Ksubi is coming of age,” he said.
“We are not part of the new young designer category anymore and we look forward to earning our place as a staple unisex fashion label for Australians.
“But we have always written our own rules and we don’t look to compete with any brands. We react against trends and try and send things off in another direction, which is what I think we're doing right now – retaliating against a really bland market. What will make these projects a success is looking at what has worked for us over our 10-year history and making it better.”
Daniela Aroche