New Generation of Designer Collaborations: Betsey Johnson, Tom’s Shoes, Sony Models

Fashion collaborations are taking place left and right these days, and I’m not just talking about the token Target and Topshop designer partnerships. Betsey Johnson has announced she’ll be teaming up with boutique and clothing brand Opening Ceremony, paying homage to her namesake line’s 30-year anniversary with a re-launch of classic pieces. “The 35-piece capsule collection of styles plucked from Johnson’s past -- reissues, not redesigns -- includes pieces from her Paraphernalia and Alley Cat collections, and will launch for fall in Opening Ceremony’s New York and Los Angeles stores, select Betsey Johnson stores, and other retailers,” says WWD.

Meanwhile, Tom’s Shoes has teamed up with Element Skateboards to create a line of eye-catching men’s and women’s slip-ons and matching boards. The super-cool collection includes Tom’s classic shoes in fabrics adorned with stripes, flowers, and graphic prints, and proves the charitable brand is still at the top of its game. To boot, “Element will follow the Toms ‘one for one’ rule—for every skate deck or board bought, Element will give a board away to a child in need of some wheels,” says the LA Times.

And, just in time for NY Fashion Week, Sony is hooking up with a handful of up-and-coming designers in a collaboration that melds collection presentations with performance art. According to the Wall Street Journal, in order “to generate buzz for its new Vaio notebook computer among the hipster crowd,” Sony will be sending out “a group of models and dancers hired by the company [to] prance around trendy Manhattan neighborhoods wearing the clothing of six emerging designers, including Elise Overland and Cushnie et Ochs, and toting the $900 to $1,500 computers that are just about the size of clutch handbags.” Other designers to be paraded around town include Threeasfour, Katy Rodriguez, Benjamin Cho, and Libertine. As can be expected from a tech company like Sony, the campaign will include a heavy digital presence: “The models will wander the streets of Manhattan for five to seven hours a day, stopping at bars, restaurants, and cafes to whip out their Vaios and instant message friends or check their Facebook pages. Sony plans to film and photograph them and load the videos and pictures onto Youtube, Flickr, and a Facebook page that it is creating. From Monday, people also will be able to track the models’ whereabouts and instant message them via www.sony.com/golightly.”