Legendary designer Jean-Charles de Castelbajac, known as the “king of unconventional” for his whimsical aesthetic, has collaborated with phone brand OnePlus for a limited edition collection aptly called Callection. Featuring in the collection are the company’s flagship phone and eclectic fashion merchandise. Carl Pei, co-founder of OnePlus, and Castelbajac tell us all about this one-of-a-kind artistic collaboration. Excerpts from the interview:
ELLE: You’ve introduced the seamless marriage of art and fashion. Why does art play such an important role in your design process?
Jean-Charles de Castelbajac: For me, art and fashion have always co-existed. Fashion is a medium of communication, a way to build a connect with people. Both fashion and art serve as a medium to raise questions and get reactions; the idea is to engage people emotionally.
ELLE: What is the idea behind the collaboration with OnePlus?
JCC: I have always believed in collaborations with artists and performers. The thought was always to co-create, and that’s what drives me. The best part about this collaboration was to reach out to a community of people. To me, this is a creative machine.
Carl Pei: I always knew fashion and technology are going to come together sooner or later. We wanted to be the first ones to do it.
ELLE: What role does technology play in fashion?
JCC: OnePlus was a perfect opportunity to explore creative ways to work with technology. Design is like poetry. The future is to embrace and work with technology or else you get left behind.
ELLE: What can we expect from the collection?
JCC: We operate our entire lives on a smartphone. The idea is to create a fine balance between design and functionality. We tried to innovate new features and elements. My drawings are child-like, whereas technology is perceived for adults. I wanted to marry the two. We created a OnePlus universe with not just the phone device but T-shirts, holsters, basketball caps and tote bags. The phone itself has three little buttons with primary colour details where red stands for passion, yellow for sun and blue for spirituality.
Carl: The idea was to not just play with the logo but to create a design universe. The device is unique, just like the collaboration.
Check out the collection here:
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