The short write-up was meant to discover the new trend of today called ritual collaboration.

1. Discussion on the Trend
he days of singular products are numbered as the notion of co-branding and
collaboration take center stage in the market. Iconic products or celebrity endorsements
are pushing into new areas of marketing that ritualize two seemingly separate products.
Creating a market where one seemingly requires the other to be complete, brands are evolving
the traditional notion of collaboration to the point of perceived dependence for consumers
looking for ways to expand their own personal repertoire of brand prowess.
Ritualized collaboration has become a big
trend in the business world where two
companies team up to create something
extraordinary. When companies collaborate,
it could be because of many purposes. One
is to drive people from one market into
another, such as when Alexander Wang
collaborates with Beats by Dre to bring
people from the high fashion world into the
world of music. Another reason why
businesses would collaborate is to use the
best of both of their abilities to come up
with a product that reflects the best of both
companies (ex. Raf Simons x Adidas).
(Raf Simons x Adidas)
A recent collaboration that is worth
mentioning is Alexander Wang x H&M in
November 2014. Alexander Wang is a world
renowned fashion designer & H&M is a
retail store that specializes on 'fast fashion'
which is good looking clothing for cheap.
When Alexander Wang & H&M
collaborated, they created garments that not
only have the distinguish Alexander Wang
look to them,
but they also are H&M affordable. This
allows people who could not normally
afford Alexander Wang to buy his high
fashion collection for a very good price.
(Lookbook from Alexander Wang x H&M)
T

2. Collaborations can also be used to bring two
businesses in the same market to come
together and create something that much
better. One example is the collaboration of
both COMME des GARCONS, and A
Bathing Ape (Bape). Both COMME des
GARCONS and Bape are Japanese clothing
brands that have a worldwide popularity
with both different and similar
demographics. When both of these
powerhouses collaborate, it creates a product
that satisfies all areas of the demographic
and results in a highly sought after product.
The products included the classic ribbed
collar most notably found on the COMME
des GARCONS PLAY shirts and featured
the famous camouflage print that is
exclusive to Bape products.
(COMME des GARCONS x A Bathing
Ape)
Finally, another reason why business may
collaborate is to create more exposure for a
business. One example of this is when
French based clothing brand Pigalle teamed
up with sporting powerhouse Nike to create
a line of products that gave much exposure
to the brand Pigalle and at the same time,
looked very good. Pigalle created a whole
line of basketball gear featuring their own &
Nike's branding and used older Nike
basketball sneaker silhouettes to add their
own touch of luxury that the brand is known
for by making them all leather (which isn't
exactly most efficient for playing
basketball.) This helps for both brands
because it makes consumers feel safe
knowing that they are buying a brand that
they are familiar with while also trying out
something completely new.