The Jean-Michel Basquiat craze continues, with fashion brand Albino & Preto collaborating with the artist’s estate on a new collection inspired by his paintings.
The new collection boasts gi and nogi jiu-jitsu sets, as well as lifestyle apparel, with some of the artist’s artworks incorporated into the prints.
Dropping ahead of New York Fashion Week, on September 10, there is a limited selection of pieces available now on the fashion brand’s website. The collection nods to martial arts motifs that Basquiat often included in his work, including one to “Achilles,” a term once used for a specific jiu-jitsu foot lock.
The Basquiat estate regularly collaborates with fashion brands. Last year, for example, the estate worked with the clothing store H&M to create a new line of Basquiat–inspired clothing for the brand.
The collaboration grew out of the exhibition “King Pleasure,” which was mounted by the artist’s sisters in 2022. The show brought together rarely seen paintings, drawings, and related ephemera, and featured collaborations with various brands, including one with Who Decides War designers Ev Bravado and Téla D’Amore.
Basquiat cut his teeth in the New York art scene in the 1980s. Despite his untimely passing and his short career, his legacy continues to provoke and inspire, and his work still continues to fetch record sales.
The artist’s former studio is currently inhabited by actress Angelina Jolie’s Atelier Jolie, a workshop and exhibition space for under-represented tailors and artisans around the world.
