Fendi Fall 2018 Menswear Collaboration: Artist Hey Reilly

COLLABORATION

FENDI’S FALL 2018 MEN’S COLLECTION INCLUDES PRINTS BY INSTAGRAM ARTIST HEY REILLY

WORDS

by CHRISTIAN ALLAIRE

PHOTOS

COURTESY of FENDI

For Fendi’s Fall 2018 menswear collection, designer Silvia Venturini Fendi partnered up with Instagram-famous artist Hey Reilly (@hey_reilly), enlisting him to add graphic prints onto the new range of ready-to-wear and accessories.

The collection’s focus on travel and versatility—everything is reversible—served as an ideal backdrop for Reilly’s works, where he incorporated remixed graphic prints. He added visual collages onto a variety of fabrics, mix-and-matching photos of Prince of Wales, swatches of AstroTurf, hammers, cartoon bananas, and more. He also played with Fendi’s signature “FF” logo, turning it into slogans on T-shirts such as “FFABULOUS,” “FFANCY,” and “FFREEDOM.”

The artist is no stranger to the art of a fashion collaboration; He’s also lent his eye to fashion campaigns for brands such as Gucci, Jimmy Choo and Paul Smith. Meanwhile, this isn’t the first artist to grace Fendi’s men’s collection, either. The label has previously partnered up with painter Tilley in 2017, as well as illustrator and sculptor John Booth in 2016.

Hey Reilly for

Fendi

HEY REILLY

Scottish-born art director and digital artist Hey Reilly is best known for his graphic collages. Mixing pop culture, patterns, and art historical references, his works are both playful and impactful—it’s no wonder he’s gained a major Instagram following. With a knack for garish colors and cartoon imagery, his recent works have even gone on to create “fake fashion news,” where he fuses fashion logos together that spur fake collaboration hype on the Internet. (The collaborations are not real.) Fendi x Fila, which he incorporated into Fendi’s Fall 2018 collection, is a prime example.

What is your personal artistic approach?

Hey Reilly: “My work is quite surreal. I like to stimulate creativity. Create a disruptive element that stops the flat routine. I love the face of people when they look at my work and you can see they are trying to give their very own interpretation.”

What fascinates you about pop culture?

“The pace and speed. How quickly things change. Keeps me excited and stimulated, ready to react.”

Where do you find your sources of inspiration?

“I get inspiration from everything that surrounds me. I can be anywhere, at the restaurant, at the dentist, while sleeping…It just happens! That is why I have lots and lots of note pads.”

What does Fendi mean to you?

“For me, Fendi means Family. A very open and modern family. An amazing atmosphere, everyone is so open to creativity and discussion.”

How did this collaboration start?

“Silvia found me on Instagram! She left me comments on my work, reposted some of her favorite things. I couldn’t believe how amazing it was, we were having this unexpected conversation through social network. She then put me in contact with the Fendi team and we started exchanging thoughts and ideas on the collaboration. This is a dream come true.”

How did you find the design process and working with Silvia Venturini Fendi?

“When I sent to Silvia my first proposal of work it was quite crazy. I thought she would never go for it, instead she said yes! I had no boundaries and impositions, and our exchange was so quick and fluid. Everything is so fast and digital. Everyone is always on their phone, and it’s so easy to send things back and forth.”

What about the imagery selected for the collage prints? How did you select them and what is the meaning behind them?

“I wanted to make prints that would make people stop and look at them, and ask themselves, ‘What is that?’ I wanted it to be different from all the T-shirts that everyone is doing at the moment, something that would create a conversation, like when you are at the bus stop and talk to unknown people. It’s not every day that you see a horse on cheese or an elephant on a strawberry.”

Fendi x Hey Reilly Graphic Jacket Fall 2018 Runway Look

“I wanted to make prints that would make people stop and look at them, and ask themselves, ‘What is that?’ It’s not every day that you see a horse on cheese or an elephant on a strawberry.”

Fendi x Hey Reilly Horse & Cheese Artwork

Fendi x Hey Reilly Artwork Horse Tote Bag

Fendy x Hey Reilly Elephant Artwork Tote Bag