Hiroshi Fujiwara: the designer who changed the genesis of Streetwear.

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28.02.23

With Fragment Design brand, the Japanese Designer Hiroshi Fujiwara has exerted immeasurable influence on fashion and Street Culture, creating consumer products and collaborating with everyone from Nike and Louis Vuitton to Moncler, via Levi's, Stussy, Supreme, Starbucks, and even Pokemon and Maserati.

From the birth of the Made in Japan Style to the most beloved Collaborations of Street Culture.

“Some people work like a band, others like an orchestra. I work as a soloist.”

The double lightning bolt seal has become one of the most recognizable logos in the world, on a par with the LV Monogram. Thus, designer Hiroshi Fujiwara-with his Fragment Design brand-has exerted an unquantifiable influence on fashion and street culture, creating consumer products, collaborating with everyone from Nike and Louis Vuitton to Moncler, via Levi’s, Stussy, Supreme, Starbucks and even Pokemon and Maserati.
Its story starts in the late 1980s in Harajuku, a district where Tokyo’s major subcultures were born; all the way to the top of the fashion, hype and music world.

Read the story of Hiroshi Fujiwara and the three Cool Kids from Tokyo who invented Japanese streetwear here.

An unstoppable 30-year climb that continues to this day.

Musician, Designer, Consultant, Creative Director-some might say Fujiwara is the archetypal multifaceted character that so defines Mainstream culture today. But he is much more than each of these things: he is the one who first defined a type of creative that cannot be labeled in a single definition, in a single sphere.

Anything that gives him the opportunity to express his being captures his attention. Be it fashion, art, music and the world of Sneakers, making “super cool” everything he touches and rightly deserving the appellation “Arbiter of Cool.” Suffice it to say that in the 1980s and 1990s, models such as Nike Dunk, Court Force, Air Jordan, adidas Campus and Superstar, Jack Purcell, and North Wave became wildly popular in Japan just because they were worn by him.

In this editorial, we will focus on Fragment Design collaborations that have in some way shaped the world of Street Culture.

Air Jordan 1 Retro x Fragment Design.

The Air Jordan 1 Retro Fragment is likely one of the best Jordan 1s of all time, for several reasons.
Hiroshi Fujiwara was able to instill a timeless imprinting to the classic OG design, masterfully using the color-blocking of the AJ1 Black Toe as a base then, by replacing the red with Royal Blue and adding the double reverse lightning bolt seal on the heel, he created a trendsetting, unprecedented colorway and pattern.

The model has been an inspiration to a million other models, which Travis Scott also drew on for his Jordan Brand collaboration. Not only that, the release helped Fragment’s design transcend from its underground brand status to become a widely known phenomenon.

Maserati x Fragment Design.

In his role as a maverick designer, Hiroshi Fujiwara collared with the prestigious car brand, unparalleled fusing a sensibility for contemporary street culture and the bold spirit of an Italian automotive icon, resulting in the first-ever Luxury Streetwear car-symbol.
From clothes, to accessories, the Maserati Fragment Design marks the first collaboration between a Steetwear brand and a luxury car brand.

Louis Vuitton x Hiroshi Fujiwara.

The April 2017 one with Louis Vuitton creative director Kim Jones was Hiroshi Fujiwara‘s first capsule collection in collaboration with a Luxury brand.
After this successful debut, the Japanese designer opened the season of co-creations with luxury brands, such as Bulgari, Maserati, Loro Piana, and Tag Heuer, consolidating what would be more strongly and vigorously called “Luxury Streetwear.”

The famous collaboration boasted a series of practical but unconventional pieces and accessories, such as a guitar cover with Monogram LV, a custom plush bear, and a men’s pre-collection, Fall/Winter 2018.

Moncler x Fragment Design

Fujiwara‘s first collab with the Italian luxury fashion brand dates back to 2018, when Moncler proposed him to participate in the ambitious “Moncler Genius” program.
Read also: Moncler’s “The Art of Genius” transformed the concept of Co-Creation.”
Although the collection looked like a typical range of Moncler jackets and ski wear, Fujiwara’s key elements were evident, from the lightning bolt logo to the graphic typography.
The second collection, which was more structured on Fragment Hiroshi Fujiwara’s design, dated back to ready-to-wear FW2020; key pieces included a bomber jacket with abstract embroidery, two corduroy items with clear Japanese references, and down jackets “splattered” with paint.

Levi’s Fenom x Fragment Design

The collaboration between Levi’s and Fragment is important not only from a point of view of the quality of the design and pieces produced, but also from the point of view of the historicity that represents it.
Once upon a time, not too long ago, the Japanese denim tradition could never have merged with the American one, of which it was practically an appendage.

For more, read also: “Big in Japan: history of the world’s luxury denim.”

Levi’s Fenom jeans featured several high-end details-including selvedge denim-precise distressing, premium Talon-branded zippers, metal keychain holsters, and collaborative branding.
Made in Japan and produced in limited quantities, the Levi’s Fenom Fragment Designs were priced high and demonstrated Fujiwara’s talent for exploiting a trend as a marketing exercise.

VanMoof x Hiroshi Fujiwara Fragment Design.

In fall 2022, the legendary Japanese streetwear designer teamed up with two Dutch e-bike pioneers VanMoof to launch a luxury, limited-edition e-bike made exclusively for Dover Street Market.
The VanMoof x Fragment Design S3 e-bike features the minimalist, minimalist and elegant execution that Hiroshi Fujiwara is famous for.
The frame is completely black and features the infamous upside-down lightning bolt logo flanked by the iconic Dover Street Market watermark.
The bike features the same technologies that have forged the Dutch manufacturer’s reputation: a powerful motor, a revamped Turbo Boost for instant acceleration, an automatic electronic gearbox, integrated hydraulic brakes, a keyless Kick Lock, and exclusive anti-theft technology.
A real treat.

Which Hiroshi Fujiwara collaboration did you like best and which would you have added to this list?

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