Cecilie Bahnsen x ASICS: A Long-Term Love Story
We caught up with the Danish designer to find out more about the ongoing partnership and why it works.
Cecilie Bahnsen is the queen of sustainable design. With the majority of her collections featuring upcycled garments and exercising responsible production methods, it’s clear to see why she’s quickly becoming one of fashion’s biggest names. In part, Bahnsen’s success, at least within the sneaker community, can be attributed to her continual and ever-evolving collaborations with ASICS: a true masterclass in sustainable sneaker production.
As Bahnsen gears up to officially release CB and ASICS’ third collaboration, we took a trip back to where it all began, starting from the upcycled pairs which debuted at Paris Fashion Week. “We started this initial design collaboration over a year ago and it’s great to see the incredible response after working on the designs for so long,” Bahnsen tells Hypebae. “The upcycling projects are a fun and faster (not fast, but faster) way of merging the two brand identities, but designing a shoe from scratch, ensuring they meet all sustainability criteria and wear tests naturally takes more time,” she adds.
We caught up with the Danish designer to find out more about her blossoming journey with ASICS and what the future holds for the design duo.
Scroll down to read the full interview.
The new collaboration with ASICS marks the third time you’ve teamed up with the footwear brand. Why is this partnership one that you continue to explore?
It feels like such a natural partnership that both brands continue to be excited by. The collaboration fits seamlessly into our ethos of everyday couture and how function and fashion can coexist beautifully. Our two teams work so well together, bouncing ideas and solutions off one another, continuing to innovate and push our designs further.
What was it like to transition from upcycling the sneakers to designing them yourself? How did that come about?
Shoes take a long time to develop, so we were working on this collaboration alongside the upcycling projects. We started this initial design collaboration over a year ago and it’s great to see the incredible response after working on the designs for so long. The upcycling projects are a fun and faster (not fast, but faster) way of merging the two brand identities, but designing a shoe from scratch, ensuring they meet all sustainability criteria and wear tests naturally takes more time.
What can you tell us about the inspiration behind this design and the decision to move from sneakers to Mary-Jane styles?
At the start of the design process, we like to think about what and how we would wear our pieces everyday. The aim was to create a sneaker that feels light and airy, like our dresses, so it was a unanimous decision to remove the tongue to lighten the silhouette. An important part of our design identity, whether it be styling pieces for the runway, a campaign, or for everyday wear, is layering. Removing the tongue allows for versatility in the styling of the sneakers. They can of course to be worn as is creating the feeling of a sandal, or layered with socks to create different textures allowing colours to peak through.
Color palettes within the collaboration have ranged from bright green and blue to silver and black, what is the significance behind these color choices?
For each collection, we have core colours that guide the colour story for the season and our footwear always aligns with this. It is also integral that each piece we create has a sense of timelessness, so each colour is selected with the intention of being mixed and styled across seasons.
How do you plan to evolve the ASICS x CB partnership in the future?
Given the ongoing success of our collaborations so far, we are excited to continue working together on future projects, continuing to push the brand codes and evolve our universe. More to come!
